Bad Romance
by Sid Love
Summary: Luke, a 17 year old guy, is swooning over the new teacher in school. But what about his best friend, who has been dreaming about being with Luke for quite some time now
1. Chapter 1

The school lobby is famous for being a bitchy place - where cheerleaders are thrusting their tongues down the basketball jocks' throats, where several bullies await to pick on their daily victims, and where a million rumors are born without even a shred of evidence. Several rumors come up and poof out, but once a kid is classed out, he has no chance to survive in the high school crowd. 

The current buzz heating up in each group, was that the infamous basketball jock, Gust Rivera, was seen hanging around town with some gay boy of the school. It didn't start off that bad, but as it went on spreading from one person to another, a huge web of humiliating stories was created. And this was what Gust was now pissed off about. He kept explaining it to everybody that it was just a meeting and nothing more. He just wanted to be left alone. 

Finally getting tired of all this, he quit talking and just walked off when the topic would come up. 

Everyone watched the flushed look on his face as he walked down the hallway digging his hands inside his pockets. He was fuming time and time again, as he could hear people giggling and whispering things about him. 

But he wouldn't stop even though he felt like giving some piece of mind to each one of them. He thought it was better to not say anything now that the gossip was heating up, or else it would get worse. 

So, he kept walking without looking up at all. His head was hanging down as he went to approach the lockers, when all of a sudden he abruptly stopped in his tracks, after a pair of pink flip-flops came into his view and his gaze travelled up to see who was standing in his way. 

Looking up, he smiled into gorgeous green eyes glaring daggers at him. That made his smile falter and he waited for her to burst into an angry rant. He wanted to get this over with. 

Candes was among one of the most popular girls in the school and known more prominently as Gust's girlfriend. When current changes came on to Gust's reputation, it affected Candes' too. 

So, now she stood there in front of him, with her hand on her hip, watching his regretful face. She was dressed in a layered shirt, along with tight jeans, and her hair was tied up in a pony tail. 

"Hey baby. How's it going?" Gust neared her and circled his arms around her waist. 

Conversely, she held out her hand rudely, stopping him. With a hurt look, Gust took a step back watching her. 

"How dare you ask me that when you very well know it's not going well? You go out with that punk, but why do I have to suffer all the embarrassment?" 

"I ..." 

"Oh shut your mouth, you dork. You might like to be called sleazy names, but I don't. It's affecting my reputation. I don't want to be known as a gay man's beard." She went on. 

Gust closed his eyes shut, trying to control his anger. "I. Am. NOT. Gay." He said through gritted teeth. 

She looked challengingly into his angry brown eyes as he opened them. "Prove it." 

It was his chance, and he didn't care how bad it made his conscience feel. He didn't care what his heart said, or rather the voice screaming inside him, telling him not to do it. But he ignored it and went straight to his innocent prey. 

He stood behind a guy who was busy arranging books in his locker, with his back to Gust. When he didn't turn around, Gust cleared his throat to get his attention. 

The blond turned to him, surprised. "Oh, hey Gust." He smiled politely. 

"Luke, I am sorry I have to do this." Gust said in a stuttering voice. 

Luke looked puzzled, and before he could sense the fist coming his way, it spanked him hard across his face, making him see stars in bright daylight. 

Guys and girls around laughed and squealed Gust's name. They got a nice show to watch, after all. But Gust felt bad watching his timid friend, who had fallen to the floor and was holding his face where he was hit. 

'Friend? Right!' He thought, 'After what I did now, I am sure I am not considered to be his friend anymore.' 

A hand palmed his shoulders from the back, and Gust froze in his place. He turned around sharply, coming face to face with a teacher, who didn't look too happy from the look on his face. 

"Principal's office... NOW!" The teacher ordered. 

Luke stomped his feet walking briskly through the lobby, making his way to the principal's office. He was angry and hurt; he kept mumbling things to himself in agitation. He wanted to teach Gust a lesson. 'What is his temerity to beat me like that?' 

He was done meeting the school nurse, who thought he was fine enough, no serious wound ... but he knew better. His heart was aching tremendously, and his eyes were red with the anger boiling in him. His friend had attacked him for no reason. 

'I know he said he was sorry for doing this, but that's not the smart way he could have handled the situation. I mean beating up your best friend ... are you kidding me? What does he think of himself; like he would get away with this? Oh no... I wouldn't let that happen.' 

Luke went directly into the office ignoring Mrs. Hathaway, principal's secretary, who was warning him not to enter without permission. But he did anyway, interrupting the principal's stern voice scolding Gust, who timidly sat across from him. 

"Mr. Keegan, I would like to have a say regarding this matter. Luke said frankly, looking at Gust from out of the corner of his eyes. 

"Mr. Snyder, is this any way ..." Mr. Keegan angrily started, but Luke didn't let him complete his sentence. 

"Gust beat me up, so I have every right to decide what I want to do with him." 

The principal exhaled out of frustration. He knew Luke wasn't going to keep quiet until he lets him to what he wishes. The last time a kid tried to bully Luke, the matter escalated and wound up in court. This time he didn't want something like that to happen, which might affect the school's reputation. So he nodded his approval, thinking that it's better to solve the matter now and be done with it. 

"I want ..." Luke stopped speaking when his gaze turned to look at Gust. "I ..." he stammered. He eyed Gust's jet black hair as his head was hung down. He wouldn't dare look up at this point. Luke watched his finger movements below the table as they played with each other in nervousness. 

"Spill it already!" The principal yelled impatiently. He just wanted to get this over with. He had many important things to do after all ... like check his Facebook profile online ... 

"I want you to let go of the issue." Luke said looking away, and walked out as quickly as he had come in. 

When I entered in the office, I was determined to get him kicked out of school. But every time I looked at him! DAMN! My heart went out to him. I was reminded of all these childhood memories that we shared. Even last week, when I came out to my parents, he was there with me all along, and what was I going to do? Get him in trouble? I can't do that. I mean I know he wasn't thinking when he hit me, but he did it under pressure. 

Gust promptly exited the office and looked around for Luke. He spotted the blond walking away in the distance. 

"Luke!" he called out, and ran to catch up with him. "Hey... hey wait" 

"What?" Luke hissed, turning to him. 

By this time, the hallway had emptied out. Not a soul was present since the classes had already started, and everyone was in their respective classrooms. 

"Look, I know you could have asked for some severe punishment for me, but you didn't." Gust gave a sad appreciative smile, "Thanks man! I owe you for that." 

"Fine, anything else?" Luke impatiently tapped his foot. 

"Yeah... after what I did ... you might think I am a back-stabber. And I don't blame you ... I am stupid, an asshole ..." 

"Moron!" Luke added. 

"Yeah ... that too. But .." Gust looked down at his shoes, "I am not very happy about what I did. Luke, you are my friend, and you will always be. We have been friends since kindergarten, and when I hit you, it felt like I hit myself. I am sorry, I promise that won't happen again. I got carried away, that's it. Please forgive me Luke, please?" He begged meekly. 

Luke gave him a hard stare. He was deep in thought and kept eyeing Gusts' timid demeanor. 

Gust sighed when he thought he had upset Luke too much. He deserved his anger, but he didn't want to lose him as a friend. 

"Ehm ... go get your books; we are already running late for our lit class. You don't want to get detention, do you?" Luke said pointing his thumb back at the lockers. 

Gust looked up happily at him and gave him a quick hug. "You are so cool, man! Thank you." 

"Come on," Luke smiled. "Let's go." 

The bell rang and numerous teens dispersed out of the classes to head for the cafeteria. The chatter began to rise as more students gathered in the lobby. 

Luke and Gust left their English lit class together. The tension between them was still prominent, but things were less tense as per Luke. He understood Gust's actions, though he wasn't very proud of them. But, he had decided to simply let go the matter after all. They did sit together in the two classes they shared before break time, and talked in between classes as usual. 

However, Gust seemed quite uncomfortable. He kept looking around the class every now and then, so often that it irritated Luke. Even now as they walked to the cafeteria, Gust kept stealing glances at every person around them whom they passed. 

"Psst ... Luke ..." Gust whispered, trying to get Luke's attention. 

"What?" Luke looked sideways, noticing Gust was walking a little behind him, which ultimately made him frown. 

Gust waved at a jock, who was leaning against the sidewall as they passed him, and whispered again, "Would you mind if I join the other teammates ... err ... for lunch today?"

Luke abruptly stopped in his tracks and turned, coming face to face with Gust. "Um ... I mean ... we had some things to work out ... for the big game ... I mean you know it is - the pressure that is ... ehm" He stammered, watching Luke glaring daggers at him. 

"Just say it, Gust ... you are ashamed of being seen around with a gay guy. I am sick of the way you behave every time we're together. Get a grip, you asshole." Luke clenched his jaws in anger. 

Gust looked around to make sure they weren't putting on a show for others. Luckily, no one seemed to hear them, so he pushed Luke to the corner to talk privately. 

"Look, I am sorry Luke ... but I am helpless." He said in a hushed voice, quite desperately, needing to explain it to Luke. "My relationship with Candes gets questioned when we are seen together. And people are talking about us Luke, and mind you, it's not good." 

"I thought you, out of all people, wouldn't care about what people say or think." Luke narrowed his eyes in disbelief and finally exhaled, "What's wrong with you?" 

A group of jocks walked by them - whistling and howling at the duo. "Way to go Rivera, you two make decent fuckers together. Aw, see them?" A guy mocked, getting laughter from the others. Gust turned around to give them a piece of his mind, but they had already walked away. 

Turning back to Luke he replied, pointing his thumb back over his shoulder, "THIS - you see? This is what I was talking about. This is what is wrong. Luke, you might not give a damn who talks what about you, but I do care." 

"You think it's easy for me to survive through all that mocking and name calling?" Luke countered, "You might just think I would be shrugging it all off, but you don't know shit. I don't know how I manage not to break down in front of all those whom I thought were my friends. And now when you say you don't want anything to do with me, ..." A hard lump suddenly formed in Luke's throat with the thought of losing his best friend. He quickly gulped it down to continue, "... I feel sorry for your loss because you have lost nothing but yourself. I don't recognize you anymore. All you have become is a puppet Gust, who is being played by all these people around you. But I am not like you. I will live my life my way, and if you want to walk out of it, I won't stop you." 

Luke whispered that last part and walked around him, hurrying to reach his locker faster. There were tears forming in his eyes, which he didn't want anyone to notice, especially not Gust. So, he decided he needed to find a quiet place to spend some time alone - he needed it. 

Gust remained motionless for some time, at the place where he stood, taking all in what Luke said. His gaze travelled to the direction over where Luke went and kept eyeing his back as he saw him vanish at the end of the hallway. 

'It was my decision to get some space, but why do I feel like crap!' Gust ran his hand through his hair, mulling over why Luke's last statement made his heart wrench in shock. 

Luke sighed, resting his back against the tree trunk. His packed lunch from home lay untouched in his lap. He didn't feel like eating right now. He had totally lost his appetite. His mom would be pissed off about that. 

He looked around the secluded place. It had been quite a while since he had been coming here ... to think and freshen up his mind. The smell of fresh cut grass hit his nose and he closed his eyes feeling calm, resting his head back against the tree. 

He remained like that for some time - replaying everything that had happened since the morning. Concluding that it was just another awful day, he wished it would end soon. 

"Look who's here..." 

Luke's eyes flew open, squinting a bit as he heard the rough heavy voice. There was a hunky looking guy, whom he wished wouldn't have seen him there. 'Could this day get any worse?' 

The guy named Rob smirked, "... the homosexuals seem to be taking over the damn school." 

Luke didn't want any more trouble. So, he picked up his lunch bag and began to stand up to get away from them. But, the guys weren't in the mood to let him go so quickly. 

"Stay there bitch!" Rob gave a hard push to his chest. Luke stumbled back down feeling a sharp pain as his back hit hard against the tree. "We need to talk. And when I say I want to talk, nobody dares to overhear it. Understand?" 

Luke looked up at him fearing what was coming next. 

"What do you want?" Luke stammered. He swore in his mind, why in the hell was he feeling so weak? 

Rob laughed, "Give me a blow-job. Bet you have fantasized about this manhood here." He feigned a moan as he rubbed his groin in front of Luke. "Lovely!" 

"Whatever it takes Rob, I am not into tiny dicks and a 3-minute man for me? No fucking way!" Luke came back bravely, but suddenly felt like taking back what he said because Rob didn't look too happy hearing it. 

Rob's nose flared in anger when Luke crossed the line by bringing up the rumor around the school. The rumor was actually spread by his ex in jealousy, that he had a tiny dick, and that when they had sex, he would come in just minutes. It just happened to tick him off. 

Luke felt a pull by his collar as Rob held it and almost choked him. "Listen you shithead! You think you are very smart? I will show you what smartness is ... you will learn it right when I will make your face look much uglier than it already is. You punks deserve nothing but this ..." 

Luke fearfully gazed at him. He wanted to say he was sorry for saying it, but no voice would come out of his mouth. And when Rob raised his hand higher, ready to hit him, his heart skipped a beat. He quickly shut his eyes tight. 

"Stop right there." A manly voice came from behind them, and Rob dropped his hold of Luke, who fell back down with a thud. "What's going on here?" 

The guy approached them. 

Rob figured he must be someone from the staff, from the way he was dressed, and his looks, which hinted he wasn't some student either. 

"Nothing ... sir! We were just ... talking." Rob gave a threatening glare to Luke. 

The man looked sternly at Rob and then down at Luke who was trying to regain his posture. But one could see he was in a bit of pain. 

"Well, your way of talking is kind of different from what I would describe it ..." He said to Rob looking angrily at him, before bending down to help Luke on his feet. "Are you okay?" He asked. 

The kind, soft words hit his ears and he looked up into his savior's eyes. The worried azure eyes looking into his put him in a trance, making him awe-struck for a second. It felt like it took him out of this world into a more beautiful place, before he was pulled back to reality. 

"Yeah ... yeah, I am fine. Thanks." 

The man nodded and turned back to Rob, once Luke was standing straight. "And you ... come with me. I would like to listen to how you talk ... and maybe the principal would too!" 

Rob growled inwardly, glaring angrily at Luke. The man saw that and pushed him away, "Come on; get going." He followed as Rob walked in front. 

Luke watched them both go. When they were at a distance, the man turned back and their eyes met again. Luke smiled in gratitude, getting one back with a nod, before he had walked away. 

"Oh bollocks! I am going to be late for the next class!" Luke swore, collecting his books in a hurry. He and his friend Mercedes had been working on the assignment they had for English class, and lost the track of time. 

Mercedes was, however, being cool. "Take a chill pill. It's a history class anyways." 

"Yeah, but you know Mrs. Brooks; she will eat us raw if we get their late." Luke shook his head thinking about it. 

"Oh wait! Isn't she gone until her baby pops out?" Mercedes reminded him. "So we probably have some substitute teacher in her place... and you know how substitutes are!" 

Luke giggled along with her, "But still... you never know how this new teacher is, right?" She nodded, "So we better get there on time. I don't want any more embarrassment for the day." 

They walked out of the room and reached their lockers... Mercedes' was just a few lockers away from Luke's. "Having a bad day, sweetie?" She asked, while putting her books in and getting what she needed for the history class. 

Luke mimicked her as he replied, "Don't ask ... I just want to get this day over with." 

"Aw poor you! What happened?" She wanted to know. 

"I will tell you later. But know it's not good at all." Luke frowned, thinking about what would happen next. They walked together quickly to the class. Noticing the lobby was empty, Luke freaked out and almost sprinted to reach the class. 

"Hey, wait for me." Mercedes called back and ran too. 

When they got near their classroom, Luke could hear the teacher giving the introduction, and knew he was dead today. 

Reaching the door, Luke was huffing and panting when he got the teacher's attention. Mercedes wasn't far behind. 

The teacher turned around to look at them, and Luke was caught off-guard meeting a familiar pair of blue eyes again. "Sorry for being late, sir!" Mercedes spoke up for both of them. 

"Hello there, get in quick. You are not very late." Luke and Mercedes nodded and got in, fetching two empty seats next to one another. Luke could see Gust sitting in the other row, and could sense the eyes on him, but he ignored him and sat beside Mercedes. 

"So as I was saying,..." The new teacher began, and Luke listened to him keenly, "I am going to be your new teacher for the subject of U.S. History for this term. Noah Mayer is the name." He smiled a million dollar smile, making Luke smitten by his adorableness. 

- TBC -


	2. Chapter 2

As soon as the school bell went off indicating the end of class, and indeed the end of that day, Gust raced over to the car park and jumped into his green convertible. He started the engine with a huge roar and raced away.

He just had to get home, and just hide away. Luckily, he didn't live too far away, so before he knew it, he had parked up in front of his apartment that he shared with his parents and older brother Matt, and hopped out of the car.

He walked in and pushed the door shut with his right foot behind him, throwing his bag in the corner at the same time. 'Thank God!' he sighed, finding the house pleasantly empty.

His parents were still at work and wouldn't be home for another hour or two. Matt too was working his shift at Java. He worked there three days a week after college, to help with the tuition fees.

Gust walked into the kitchen and raided the fridge for a coke and something to eat. He found some chocolate chip cookies along with the drink, which he took with him to his room.

But when he arrived there, he put all items on his bedside table and just collapsed on his bed. Before he knew, the whole day replayed itself in his head, and tears burst out as he started to cry uncontrollably. He cuddled the pillow close to him and dug his face in it.

After what seemed like hours, he finally calmed down enough to start thinking a bit more rationally.

'What the hell was I thinking, hitting my best friend in the whole world like that? Just to prove...' His mind was confused as that thought came on. '…to prove what exactly? That I was more of a man than Luke is? At least Luke knows who and what he is', he thought getting sadder. 'Unlike me... My love life is fuck! I love Candes, then why do I end up thinking of Luke when I get intimate with her?'

It had been weeks now, since Luke had starting stalking him in his dreams, and it was not the thought of Luke that was troubling him. It was his best friend Luke that pricked his manliness. He dreamed of Luke in a romantic way, and that confused him.

He has known Luke since they were five, and they were best buds since the day they set eyes on each other. They had shared so much together, had plenty of sleepovers and even last week he was there with Luke, supporting him, when he had finally confessed to his parents that he was gay.

Gust had known that Luke was gay since he had told him on a camping trip they had went on together when they were fifteen, down by the Snyder pond. He wouldn't lie, it had taken him a few days to get used to the idea that his mate fell for other guys, but it had never changed their friendship. '

'So why now? Why did I have to act like a first class idiot?' He needed to get a grip.

But first of all, he needed to ask Luke for forgiveness. He had to explain to him, talk to him and clear the air. The last thing he wanted was to lose such a precious friendship and the bond he shared with Luke. He had to start acting wise, he thought, and with that he grabbed his cell phone and started dialling Luke's number.

Gust had absolutely no idea what he was going to say to Luke; he just knew he had to talk to him.

A few rings later, Gust heard an angry "what!" coming from other side of the phone. It made him feel like crying again, that he had upset his friend so much. He wanted to turn his phone off, but realized that that would be the coward's way out, and if anything, he sure wasn't a coward.

So he answered, "Hey". After a second or two Luke replied by saying "hey" as well. That gave him the courage to continue.

"Luke, I am..."

"What the fuck were you thinking today Gust?" Luke blasted. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"I don't know," Gust replied, the tears stinging his eyes again. "Luke?" he said after what seemed like ages, "can we talk? Like really talk?"

"Ok," Luke replied, "I'll be right there."

Hearing those calm words, he felt relieved and put the phone down.

Gust went to the bathroom and started splashing cold water on his face in a vain attempt to get rid of his red and puffy eyes. He looked in the mirror and pulled a face. "Well, that didn't work," he muttered to himself, but he had to admit that he felt a little better anyway, even though he didn't look like it. He wiped his face off and began thinking over what he had to say to Luke. He was scared of what Luke might think, but was still in the process of making up his mind to tell him.

Sometime later he heard a knock on the backdoor. He ran down the stairs to open the door.

"Man you look like shit," Luke said, noticing Gust's appearance before entering into the homey family kitchen.

"Thanks," Gust whispered in sarcasm, exhaling a big sigh and trying to control his emotions that were coming up again. Luke was alarmed by the tone of his friend's voice and turned to look him in the face. Gust had his eyes downcast and he rubbed his sleeve over his nose.

"Hey man, what's up?" Luke asked, slightly concerned now. He had never seen his friend in such state of mind.

The only reaction he got was a shrug as an answer. Luke decided not to push Gust just yet, as he could see that he was trying to find the right words to elaborate on what was actually bothering him.

"I am confused," he whispered so softly that Luke had trouble understanding what Gust was saying.

"Did you say you are confused?" Luke looked lost, "Confused why? What is so confusing?"

Silence again.

Luke tried again, "What are you confused about, Gust?" He tried to encourage him to continue.

"Oh, I don't know … everything I guess." Gust said "Starting with why the fuck did I hit you? You are my best friend! Ha, what a friend I turned out to be!" he snorted sardonically. "Hitting you just to prove I was more of man than you. Not to mention, to prove it to the ones who don't care a damn about anyone or anything. But I'm even more confused about that." Gust grabbed his head out of pure frustration.

"Why are you confused about that?" Luke asked, not understanding what his buddy was hinting at.

"Having fantasies about your best friend would certainly freak anyone out..." He suddenly blurted out. Immediately after that confession, he realized what he had said without thinking, and now he wished the earth would open up and swallow him, out of pure embarrassment.

"Fantasies?" Luke stammered, "About me?" Luke asked, totally not knowing what to think of that outburst.

"Yeah," Gust whispered again, knowing there was no backing down now. "I dream about you, like ... you know...that! But I can't be gay, can I? It's not right."

Luke dropped down on the bed with a thud. He didn't know what to say. 'Gust dreaming about me? That's just weird, or is it?'

Thinking about it now, during the last few weeks he kept noticing that Gust was looking at him in a strange, almost dreamy way. He never paid much attention to it, but now that he was thinking about it…

"How long have you been uhm, thinking about me like THAT?" he wanted to know.

"Weeks and weeks, I don't know when I started having these thoughts all of a sudden. Even when I kiss Candes, I'm imagining she is a guy. I think I have a crush on you Luke, but then again I'm not sure, all I know is that I have these feelings about men, but … but I love Candes as well … AARGH" he cried out, "this is so damn confusing. Bet you hate being my friend now right?" he asked insecurely.

Luke was thinking about it for a minute or two, and then he jumped up and took Gust into a bear hug.

"Ha ha mate that's great." He said enthusiastically. Gust looked at Luke like he'd lost it, but then decided to join in. The hug gave him goose-bumps and he felt good being in Luke's arms. He just wished he could get more.

After a little while, after they had calmed down a bit, Luke and Gust both sat down on the bed again.

"What are you going to do now?" Luke asked.

"I have no idea." Gust sighed, "I have to think about all of this, I need some time to get used to it. Guess everything's going to change for us from now on."

At that moment, Luke couldn't help but think about his new charming history teacher – Mr. Mayer – and whispered a soft "Yeah", giving out a dreamy sigh.

"Um …Luke? Will you promise...", he started before Luke interrupted him.

He knew what he was hinting to and said, "Sure buddy, take all the time you need Remember, I will be always there for you!"

The next morning Noah got up at 6am as usual. He got changed into his running shorts and a wife beater and left his apartment for his morning jog. He loved this time of day; seeing the town that he was calling home now as it woke up slowly. He saw paperboys racing around on their bikes  
delivering the morning papers, and men and women walking their dogs. About half an hour later, the traffic got busier as well. He had jogged quite far from his home by then.

'Time to head home' he thought, and raced back.

Once home, he took a quick shower and quickly got dressed in his formal attire. He headed to the kitchen to grab a bowl of cereal and a glass of orange juice for breakfast. After he finished eating and drinking his juice, he was all set for work. He checked the time and noticed that everything was going according to schedule.

Noah was ready to start the day.

Exactly at 8.30 a.m., Noah walked into the staffroom, greeted everyone in there with a "Good morning", and walked over to the coffee machine, pouring himself a hot brew. He had only met a few of the other teachers the day before, and suddenly he felt a little bit like a fish out of water.

"Hey there handsome," he heard a voice coming from behind, and turned around to see who was talking.

He saw a tall man with ginger hair giving him the toothiest smile he'd ever seen. "Hey there" he greeted, offering his hand, "I'm Noah Mayer."

"Chris Skudder," Chris said, grabbing Noah's hand and shaking it enthusiastically. "Physical exercise" he said.

"History," Noah replied with a grin.

"Nice body you have there, man!" Chris touched his muscled bicep gently and winked. "With something like that, I bet you could have been an ace in physical training."

A blush spread across Noah's cheeks and he replied shyly, "No thanks, history is what makes me happy."

Chris laughed richly and left. He instantly liked this slightly goofy looking guy, who happened to be very attractive as well. He just knew they were going to share a great chemistry together.

Gust walked into the lobby, heading straight for his locker to fetch his books for first period. He senselessly ransacked his locker being deep in thought about something, when he sensed someone staring at him. Standing a few lockers away was his girlfriend Candes, who looked like she was very upset about something.

"Oh, hi Candes," he said, forcing himself to smile. He walked over to greet his girlfriend by giving her a quick peck on her cheek, but she turned her head harshly, which got his lips to end up somewhere near her ear.

He decided to ignore her actions and tried again "Hey babe, how are you this morning?"

"Hmmpf," she huffed, and stomped away across the hallway to her locker to get her own books.

Gust rested his back by the lockers and looked up to the ceiling in frustration. He really couldn't deal with this negativity now. He really liked Candes, but he was now realizing that he didn't love her.

He knew he should break up with her. They could never be boyfriend and girlfriend. He knew it was unfair to use her as a beard, because it was mean and selfish, and that is exactly what he has been doing...

That thought made him sad. He heard Candes' voice and suddenly snapped out of his thoughts. "Sorry, what did you say?" he asked her.

"We're going to be late for class…" she said, and with that they walked to their classroom. He thought of telling her sometime today that they couldn't continue anymore, 'but how?' was the real question there …

It was about halfway through the lesson when Luke realized that he couldn't remember a single word of what Mr. Mayer had said. It's not like he hadn't tried, but geez his smile was just so...so stunning. 'Yeah!'

And with that, he continued daydreaming, staring at his new history teacher.

Mercedes, who was sitting next to Luke, saw the dreamy look on his face and knocked his arm with her elbow. Luke jumped up and gave Mercedes a dirty look.

"Why did you do that for?"

"What's wrong with you, dude?" Mercedes asked, smiling, because she realized that Luke obviously had the hots for the teacher. "Since when do you pay attention to what teacher's saying in history class?" She shook her head in amazement.

Luke played innocent, "Oh, I guess I have developed a liking for the subject. His-story! Hmm … who the hell doesn't like stories?" He grinned wide.

"You developed a liking for the subject, or for the teacher, huh?" She playfully bumped his shoulders.

The comment made Luke blush. He knew it would be of no use to hide it from Mercedes, since she could already tell. "Don't you think he's gorgeous?" Luke asked her, and turned to look at Noah again getting lost in his own world. "Just look at those eyes … goddamn! Aren't they the bluest ones you've ever seen?"

Luke's wistfulness made her giggle a bit.

"Yes he's handsome and all," she whispered but reminded Luke, "he's our teacher though."

"So what?" Luke replied, "He's not that much older than we are; I reckon I have a chance here." Luke had a determined look on his face.

That made Mercedes giggle a little louder this time, because she thought it was really funny how her friend was falling for their teacher. Basically, this whole teacher crush thing amused her, mostly because it came from Luke.

Noah looked their way. "I am talking to you both as well you know. I would appreciate your attention too." He said in a gentle, yet demanding tone.

Mercedes and Luke sat straight in their chairs. A few hushed chortles came from behind them, and Luke ducked his head in embarrassment. He looked back over his shoulders and saw Gust sitting in the back row.

Gust gazed at him and waved. Luke just gave a smile in return and turned to listen to Noah again. Candes, who was sitting right beside Gust, didn't like this and slapped his hand in anger.

Luke was trying to concentrate, but his mind went back to thinking about Gust. He was thinking about his conversation with Gust the previous evening, and his face turned sad. He heaved a sad sigh, getting his friend's attention.

Mercedes looked at him and noticed his mood change.

"Hey, what's wrong?" She inquired.

"It's Gust." Luke replied, looking back at Gust again for a moment, then turning back, "he just realized he's gay too, and he has a crush on me, and I'm not sure what to do, I mean we are best friends."

Mercedes had to think about this for a minute or two.

"You know?" she said, "I somehow knew he was…" And with that she turned to concentrating on the lesson again, leaving Luke even more confused.

'How the hell didn't I see it coming then?' was all he could wonder about.

The school bell rang, and everyone stood up to head for the canteen for morning break. Luke was looking forward to his breakfast. He was very hungry for some strange reason, and he was contemplating on what to have, when yet again he heard someone call out his name as he was about to leave the class.

Slightly confused, he looked where the voice came from, and he realized that it was the hunky teacher calling him.

"Mr. Snyder, could I please have a word?"

"Sure" he replied smiling, although nervously wondering what it was all about. He excused himself from Mercedes, promising her to meet at their table in the canteen.

She looked between Luke's hopeful look and Noah's serious demeanor, and a giggle came out of her as she left. Right behind her was Gust who stopped where Luke stood. He opened his mouth to say something, but Candes pulled him out of the classroom.

Luke sighed at that and shook his head.

Noah waited until all the other students had left the room. When they all were gone and they were the only ones left in the room, he stood up to close the door. As he walked back to his desk, he saw that Luke was looking at him slightly confused. Actually Luke's mind was running wild, imaging what was to come…

"Luke, I've had a look at your grades over the last three months…."

'Grades? DAMN!' Luke's train of thought had derailed and crashed into a sign board screaming 'TROUBLE'!

"Oh!"

"Yes, I've noticed that your grades have gone down in this subject. Can you think of any reason why this has happened?"

Luke shrugged his shoulders, not knowing how to answer this without being harsh. Actually, Luke thought it was kind of a boring subject. 'What the fuck does anyone care what has happened in the past? Don't they say forget the past and just move on?', was what he thought. But he certainly couldn't say that to his teacher, not to this one who was so damn cute.

He was trying to think of some good reason, when suddenly an idea popped into his head.

"Um … I guess I need some help sir." he said.

Noah gave it a thought. "Hmm that might be an idea ", He replied, "I guess I could ask one of your classmates if they can help you out and …"

"NO!" Luke burst out, interrupting him. Noah looked at him perplexed.

'Damn, this is not going how I want it to go.' He had to think of something fast. "Uhm," Luke stammered, "What I mean is, … I have problems remembering … like all the dates and stuff, my classmates couldn't help me there, could they?"

Noah narrowed his eyes in suspicion. He was pretty sure that Luke had no problems remembering at all, and that in fact, was just an excuse not to study. Noah decided he would test Luke on it personally, and find out why Luke was lying.

"Alright Mr. Snyder, in that case, you need a professional tutor. Report here today at 3:15 after school, and I will help you out myself."

'YESSS!' Luke's heart yelled in victory. He had to push down the urge of getting on the table and dancing happily right in front of his teacher.

"Yes sir, I'll be here." He said, pulling a straight face, but the happy grin just wouldn't go. "Thank you!"

Noah charmingly smiled back at him, making his heart beat erratically once again.

He walked out of the room with a very satisfied look and a wicked smile on his face, knowing his life was taking an interesting turn.

Gust was in the shower after practice, listening to the banter his teammates were having outside. It was the usual comments and taunting towards him and Luke. Usually he would just ignore it, but today it made him feel so angry.

He counted slowly to ten, trying to calm himself down. He rinsed off the remaining soap and shampoo and turned the shower off. He quickly dried himself and put the towel around his hips.

As he walked back towards the changing room, Jason White, a guy he completely disliked because of his attitude, remarked with a smug,

"Watch it guys; cover up, gayboy Rivera is here."

Without thinking, Gust turned around and grabbed Jason by his hair, punching him in his stomach. Jason collapsed in pain on the floor, holding his belly where Gust had hit him.

Gust turned to every one of the boys there. They seemed to have dry throats, looking at what Gust had done to their leader.

With an alarming voice Gust warned them, "If I hear any of you making any hateful remarks about us gays, you'll have it coming …" Gust spat out.

He left the shower cubicles in anger, and got dressed, before storming out of the sports complex.

He was swearing all the way out, when he abruptly halted as the realization hit him …

'Oh My God! Did I just say "us gays"?'

He started laughing out loud. That felt so good, weirdly, when he thought of it. Although he was scared to death, mulling over how things would turn out after this, he felt like a bird out of prison.

- TBC -


	3. Chapter 3

Luke scanned his image once more in the mirror and pouted. "Damn! I look so disheveled." It was mere exaggeration though. He was looking more than fine, but his inner need to look better for Noah, was giving diffidence to him.

The last class had ended half an hour back and since that time, he was lingering in the school's washroom. He was to meet the history teacher in ten minutes and he was dreadfully nervous.

Soon, he was keyed up with the thought of spending a whole hour with Noah. It just seemed so dreamy to him. He quickly turned the tap on and splashed some running water onto his face. He ran his wet hand through his hair soaking it, and then fixed it back. Trying out various styles, he finally settled on one look that enhanced his appearance even more.

Luke winked at his image, grinning widely, satisfied with his looks now. He could now bet that even a straight guy would give him a second look when he would pass. 'Ok, not a straight guy! But at least … Mr. Mayer?' He hopefully thought.

He turned to leave but stopped again. He turned back, looking at his image, before glancing down at his blue shirt.

He looked up again and bit his lower lip in deliberation. Going with the idea anyway, he pulled down the zipper of his shirt, exposing part of his chest. One could see the chest hair that wasn't much, but Luke thought it would give a hell of an arousal to any man!

He coyly smiled at his reflection.

Suddenly, he realized that it must be getting late, so he checked the time.

'3.15 already? SHIT!'

He caught hold of his backpack, and began to leave in a hurry, when he bumped into someone coming inside.

"Sweet chocolates! It must be my lucky day for me to be bumping into you." Casey said, with his signature smug look stuck on his face.

"Can't you watch where you're going?" Luke asked, immensely irate.

Casey however, dramatically sighed over that, replying, "My eyes keep lingering around, searching for some beauty around the school. Can't blame me for not looking where I was going, when I saw someone more tempting around the corner." He winked after eyeing Luke's alluring appearance. It was sure he was trying to impress someone. But who that someone is, was what Casey wondered about.

Luke rolled his eyes at the usual flirting he got from Casey, but this was not the time. He had more important things to do.

Casey wasn't gay or anything… he was straight and had a steady relationship with a pretty girl named Tracey. The trio shared art class and that's how he knew him. Luke always teased him that he was a gay guy trapped inside his body, since he always flirted with Luke. Tracey was a fun girl too.

"Get out of my way." Luke annoyingly hit him with his own backpack and left, leaving an amused Casey in a roar of laughter.

The tittle-tattle was on. Swearing over gay guys around the campus and taking every chance of insulting them, was the motive.

Joe was in the gym shower, and he shook his head as he heard the guys talking about someone named Luke, and what a fucking punk he was for eye-fucking every other guy at the school.

He had been through all this last year when he had come out, and he bet that these frigging homophobes were just exaggerating about some innocent guy in school.

He turned the shower back on and started washing the soap off his face, when he heard a commotion going on outside…

"… cover up; gayboy Rivera is here." He caught the tail end of the sentence.

He quickly washed and dried himself when he heard a sound of someone hitting and swearing. He feared the worst. A blaze of anger struck inside him when he imagined another innocent guy getting hit just because he was gay.

He was ready to storm out and kick the asshole out, when he heard,

"If I hear any of you making any hateful remarks about us gays, you'll have it coming …"

Joe was amused. He quietly opened the door and peeked outside through the crack.

He could see a guy storming off the shower cubicles, leaving that poor – scratch that- that loser, down on the floor. He held a giggle in his throat watching all his friends trying in vain to get him back up on his feet. They all seemed so freaked out.

He once again looked up at the guy's back who was leaving and felt the need to get to know this guy –who was gay, out, and so proud, that he would do anything to keep his honour.

Joe kept staring until he was finally gone, and the he vanished from the cubicles.

Noah couldn't move for a second, nor could he take his eyes off of his student. There stood Luke in front of him, looking fantastic. It became hard for him to blink. His mind warned him not to, but his heart wanted to keep staring at this handsome student of his.

Luke noticed this change in Noah and blushed. It had been a minute since he had come in, and his teacher wouldn't stop eyeing him. He shamelessly liked the attention and felt flattered.

However, Noah pulled himself out of his trance and looked away. He senselessly shuffled the books on his table saying, "Um … get in, Luke. We should start off with your lessons."

"Whatever you say, Noah…" Luke whispered, staring dreamily at his teacher.

Noah looked up bewildered, and they made eye contact. He opened his mouth to say something, but it remained agape for a moment before he closed it shut. He swallowed as their eyes lingered on one another a bit too long.

"What? You don't mind me calling you by your first name, or do you?" Luke said smiling lopsidedly. However, his smile was having an effect on Noah.

'Holy Hell! He wants to call me by my first name? What's going on in his mind? Or is it just me? Students do call their teacher by their first names these days. It makes for a good rapport between them … but Luke?'

'Say No!' Noah's mind screamed, but he said, "Um … sure!" He blinked several times and coughed in nervousness, "Sure you can."

Luke nodded and watched him. Noah looked so anxious. "So, shall we begin?"

"Begin what?" Noah went blank.

"Uh … History? What else?"

"Oh yeah!" Noah turned away to get his book, hiding the blush forming on his face. "Take your seat." He opened his desk drawer and shuffled it, as if searching for something ,while his eyes kept wandering, trying to see what Luke was doing.

Luke sat on the extra chair placed by the desk, facing his teacher. Noah thought this would be an interactive way of studying better, but now he had second thoughts about it.

He shook all the other thoughts out of his head and concentrated on just guiding Luke right now. He finally retrieved a book out of his drawer and placed it in front of Luke. "I have heard you have great taste in literature. So have you ever had a chance to go through this book?"

Luke observed it and quickly recognized it. A smile lit on his face. "Are you kidding? Philippe Gregory is a legend! OMG I can't believe you own a copy of "The White Queen!"." Luke's eyes were shining as he began to turn the pages.

Noah placed his elbows on the desk, noticing the excitement in Luke as he talked. "Nah! I borrowed it from one of my friends. It's his book."

"Lucky friend." Luke said without looking up. He kept turning the pages when he finally got the one he was looking for. "Oh my god! I love this scene ..." He said, and began to read from the book – "… There are Yorkists in every great house in the land now, and every profitable business or place or tax is in their gift. Their boy-king is on the throne, and his supporters form the new court. We, the defeated, are paupers in our own houses and strangers in our own country, our king an exile, our queen a vengeful alien plotting with our old enemy of France. We have to make terms with the tyrant of York, while praying that God turns against him and our true king sweeps south with an army for yet another battle..."

Noah was stunned noticing Luke's love for literature. He had never imagined a guy so dull and having no interest in history, would be reading something like "The White Queen", which was an historical work of fiction.

Luke was talking and Noah was just staring at him. Before he knew it, his mind had drifted elsewhere. 'Luke looks so different today. He looks … God forbid me for thinking like this; but he really looks amazing. He is the same Luke I saw this morning, but his looks then didn't affect me like they are now. Oh his hair! Damn, it looks hot on him …' His eyes travelled down and down, 'He has gorgeous eyes. The way they look at me … and why the hell does he keep licking his lips like that? It's … It's too effective. He kept doing that this morning; God knows what he was thinking.'

At some point, Luke looked up and said something, but Noah didn't hear; he just nodded anyway because he was too busy thinking.

His eyes stuck on one place and remained there for sometime. … 'Shit! His shirt's open half-way and …' Noah looked up suspiciously at Luke. 'What's he trying to do? Does he have a crush on me? He's even wearing after shave …'

"Oh wait!" Luke said out of the blue, which got Noah out of his train of thoughts. "Why are we doing this?"

"Doing what?" Noah asked innocently.

"Reading a book … I thought you were going to guide me on history lessons." Luke was confused but Noah just smiled.

Candes was waiting outside for Gust. He was late and she was pissed. When Gust came into view she made a face at him.

He couldn't help but frown. He had just had enough angst for one day, and he certainly couldn't handle another fight between them. So he quietly walked up to his car and got in. Candes did the same, and in silence, they drove off.

She eyed him and concluded that Gust was angrier than she was, and she didn't know the reason exactly. She shrugged it off anyway and turned on the radio. The Miley Cyrus song, "Party in the USA", screamed through the player, and Candes swayed in her seat enjoying it.

Gust scowled and turned it off. All he needed right now was silence, but unfortunately Candes yelled, "What's wrong with you?"

"Sorry baby … I had a bad day. Please bear with me." He whispered rubbing her thigh to soothe her.

Candes pouted and felt bad. "Aw hun. Don't worry. Everything will be alright." She said softly and they shared a smile. She turned to look out of the window, enjoying the view racing by, when suddenly she was reminded, "Oh I forgot to tell you. Guess what Sarah heard today?"

'Another gossip! Fuck! Why me?' His mind cried, but he asked anyway, "What?"

"Remember history class, when Luke got the third degree from Mr. Mayer for not paying attention?" Gust furrowed his brows listening intently at the mention of Luke's name. "Well, Sarah was sitting right in front of him listening to what he and that plump girl were talking about."

"Evesdropping, you mean?" Gust asked in sarcasm.

Candes rolled her eyes, "Whatever! But what's amusing is – Luke's got a crush on the new history teacher." She laughed richly. "Can you believe that?"

Gust couldn't. "Bullshit! It's all crap."

"Dude! Sarah heard it herself – loud and clear – he was gushing about how attractive the teacher looks." Gust gulped, a lump formed in his throat. "I tell you all these homosexuals are fucking crude. Their eyes just pounce on any attractive guy that passes them." She giggled.

Gust was too deep in thought to reply.

"Hmm. Thinking back …" Candes continued, "I think Luke's gonna have a chance there. I mean … that Mr. Mayer looks so gay! It's just in his eyes …"

Candes was interrupted with an abrupt halt of the car, giving a hard jerk to her. "HEY!"

"Get out!"

"WHAT? What did I do now?"

Gust turned to her and motioned his eyes outside. "We reached your place."

"Oh! Ok …" Candes said. She carried her backpack and leaned over from her seat to give Gust a peck. But, Gust backed off, disappointing her. "Gust?" she whispered in surprise

"I am sorry Candy! I can't do this anymore …" He said.

She gave out a nervous laugh, mulling over the sentence in confusion, "Can't do what?"

"This …" He motioned his hand between them as he said, "The 'Us' so to speak."

"W-wait … You want to break up with me? Why?" She was on the verge of crying.

Gust pursed his lips not knowing how to say this. "You know you were right … about what you said yesterday. You are a great girl and you certainly don't deserve to be used like this … you know, as a … beard" He stammered out the last word.

Candes' mouth went agape, and a single tear rolled down her cheek.

"I am g…" Before he could say anything more, a hand came flying and hot across his face. Gust clenched his teeth. He deserved this after all.

The car door opened and closed with a bang and he saw Candes disappearing into her apartment in a flood of tears. He could hear her loud cries from the car, and Gust felt worse.

"What you all talked about is history, Luke." Noah explained, "You remember all the dates when the boy king was crowned, and many other incidents. This is all of the war times that we study in our lessons."

"I am still not getting you."

"Alright! Let's not talk about this book. Let's take the example of 'Liberty Tavern' … I bet you have read that book."

Luke nodded confirming, "Yes I have."

"So, you must also know what incident it is that he keeps mentioning…" Noah pushed the subject.

"Hmm … It's when the American Revolution took place."

"And when was that?"

"Um … 18th century?" Luke guessed, trying to remember the words in the book.

"Bingo!" Noah chuckled in victory, "And you say you have problems remembering dates?"

Luke grinned, "I didn't know myself that I had it in me."

"You know you do have a good brain after all." They giggled. "So I am guessing, you want to be a writer?"

"Oh I sure do want to … um … does it sound cheesy if I say I see my books being best sellers in the future?" Luke said turning red.

"Not at all. Instead, it's good that you dream big. Because when you dream big, you aim bigger and you earn biggest!"

"True!" Luke agreed. "Can I borrow this book from you for a week?"

"Sure!"

"Will your friend mind?" Luke asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Nah!" Noah assured, and watched Luke as he put the book in his bag. "You know, if you want to be a writer, you shouldn't be ignoring a subject like History."

Luke looked lost, "Huh?"

"Yes! I mean History is in the past and I know you might be thinking who cares about the past anyway, but – you can't write the future without knowing what the past was. The past teaches you more than you can learn in the present." Luke narrowed his eyes at Noah making him smile, perplexed. "What?"

"How do you do that?" he asked.

"Do what?"

"Make everything seem so easy? I mean, till this morning I thought history has no values in my life and now you go changing my mind, making me believe that it's a helluva important subject. You are one evangelic person, you know that? Should I be scared?" Luke teased.

"Well what can I say!" They both laughed. "Fine! So we shall stop here for today, ok? I'll …" His words were cut off when his hand felt warm, and he gasped.

Luke had placed his hand on Noah's, while it lingered on the desk. "I just want to say … thank you."

Noah looked down at their held hands and then up at Luke. He wanted to take his hand off right away, but it wouldn't move. His hand had gone numb as if it wanted to stay there, enjoying the warmth of other hand, and feeling the love as Luke caressed it gently.

"Luke, it's …"

The clicking sound of the door interrupted their tender moment, and Noah quickly dismissed the touch, removing his hand. Luke looked sad, though.

They both turned to the door when it opened wide, and Chris entered.

"Oh thank God Noah, you're here!" Chris said, approaching the desk. He noticed Luke was there too. "Oh hello Mr. Snyder!"

"Hello Mr. Skudder." He greeted his physical training teacher with a crooked smile. He was actually boiling on the inside; angry that he had broken up his special moment with Noah mid-way … 'who knows where it would have headed if he hadn't come?' Luke blushed with that thought.

"Luke? Can you leave Noah and I alone for awhile?" Chris asked.

Before Luke could say anything, Noah spoke up, "He was leaving anyway, right Luke?" He looked at him uneasy, and saw sadness in the brown eyes.

Luke nodded in response and picked up his backpack, getting ready to leave. "Bye Mr. Skudder. Bye Noah."

They both nodded. Chris felt a little weird hearing Luke refer to his teacher as 'Noah', but he shrugged the thought off as soon as it came.

"So Noah, are you ready for tomorrow night?" Chris asked with much enthusiasm. That got Luke's ears up and snooping. He bent down acting, as if his shoe lace was undone and he was tying it.

"Uh … I thought we discussed it all at break time?" Noah tried to ignore the talking, since Luke was still in the room. He watched from the corner of his eyes noticing Luke was still there.

"Yes, but I thought it would be good if you pick me up at seven. We can roam around a bit before the movie starts. What do you say?"

Luke heard that and felt like he was stabbed right in the chest. 'Noah was going out with Mr. Skudder? On a date? Why?' He stood up and turned to look at them. Chris stood with his back towards Luke, but Noah could see the devastated look on Luke's face, and his doubts were confirmed. Luke had a crush on him, and he had to do something about it.

So, he said for Luke to hear, "Yeah cool. I want our date to be fun." He smiled at Chris but inside, he felt his heart sink because he saw Luke was in tears.

Luke couldn't stay there any longer. His eyes burnt seeing Chris hugging Noah, and he couldn't watch that. So he left, as tears made their way down his cheeks. His heart was aching hard and he didn't know how to relieve the pain.

'Why Noah? WHY?'

Gust sat at the table holding his head in his hands. It pained him with all the thoughts coming to his mind. He had just broken up with Candes, and the way her reaction was, he was feeling the guilt rising in him. He felt like he had been lying all this time to her. And it was obvious she would feel betrayed. But more than that, what hurt him, was Luke thinking about some other guy …

He was envious of his own teacher. 'What is it with him that Luke likes him so much? How can he prefer a lean bodied guy like him over me, I have such a well built body. God! What's wrong with him? At least I think I am far better than Mr. Serious' He swore in his mind.

"Your coffee's getting cold!" Gust heard the words and looked up in irritation. A guy of almost his age sat in front of him at his table.

"Why do you fucking care?" Gust harshly snapped.

The guy with emerald green eyes shrugged his muscular shoulders, "Well, if it gets cold, you will throw it away and that would be wastage, which is a serious problem in the world."

"Who the hell are you? Some activist or something?" Gust frowned, "I will drink my coffee, and I will not waste anything in my life. Ok? Now just leave me alone!"

"You are so grumpy." The guy chuckled, "You do need the caffeine fix." He reached across the table and patted on Gust's shoulder.

"What do you want?" Gust demanded.

"I want to kiss you." The guy said with a straight face.

"What?" Gust thought he heard wrong.

"I said I want to kiss you. But we can do that later. For now, how about a date tonight?"

"Dude, I don't know you." Gust said with amusement.

"Well, that's why I want to date you, so that we can get to know each other."

"You are weird." Gust replied.

"But cute! You gotta admit that." He winked and took a tissue and pen. He wrote something on the paper while Gust just looked at the guy in shock. "There's my number. Call me and we will set it up."

"Hello? I didn't say 'yes'!"

"But you didn't even say 'No', so just gimme a call!" He stood up. "See ya around cutie!" He said and left.

Gust couldn't say a thing, and just looked over his shoulder as the guy walked out of Java… 'He indeed is cute'

He smiled and looked at the phone number. "Joe Brannan…" He read.

'So Joe? You are going to help me a lot I guess?' He thought with a smug smile, and pocketed the note.

- TBC -


	4. Chapter 4

"Luke?" Gust furrowed his brows, "Are you OK? You sound a bit grumpy."

"I will be fine." Luke said into the phone as he suppressed a yawn. He looked around his room and saw it was mess. He remembered last night ransacking his bedroom in anger. He had to let that furiousness out, that he had felt when he had seen Noah with Chris, them touching, hugging each other. He fisted his palm tight, being reminded of that moment …

"Why did you call?"

"Oh, actually Matt wanted to go swimming. So we were thinking if we could have a meet-up by the Snyder pond."

"I don't know. I am not feeling like it today." Luke made a face.

"And that is why you should join us all." Gust quipped. "Maybe that would take your mind off things and we can, you know? If you want to …?"

Luke sighed. "Ok, I guess, you can come; I'll tell grandma you're coming. You can then join us for lunch too."

"Naw, we won't stay for that long." Gust said. "Oh, and I forgot to tell you, Matt's gonna bring his friend too, I hope that's ok with you?"

Luke rolled his eyes. "Great! And you'renot bringing anyone with you?"

"Actually I am." Gust bit his lower lip. "I'm bringing a date along."

"Whatever dude!" Luke frowned, "I am ok with Candes coming over, but keep her under control, or else she will have to pay for it." He grumbled. "Can't stand her presence."

"Joe," Gust whispered.

"Huh?"

Gust hesitated, "His name is Joe. I am bringing him over." He confessed, and waited for Luke's reaction.

Silence fell between them. Luke didn't know how to react to that. And Gust just couldn't wait to hear his reaction over that. He waited impatiently, holding his phone tight to his ears.

After a few minutes, Luke finally broke out of his shock and exclaimed, "You're dating someone else? A guy?" Gust smiled to himself. 'Is that jealousy in his voice?'

But that was just his wishful thinking. Luke was just surprised that Gust decided to change his lifestyle all of a sudden. It seemed a bit off to him. He voiced out his concern too, saying, "Are you sure about this? I mean, it's great that you want to come out, but having a date already?"

"Why? I don't see any problem in that." Gust couldn't stop grinning. "Luke, are you not happy for me?"

"Of course I am! But …"

"Then leave it at that. Let me handle it my way."

Luke knew it was none of his business, so he backed off. "Ok." He just wanted to make sure Gust didn't move too fast, since he sounded a bit desperate. Because, just a day before, Gust admitted he had a crush on him, and now he's dating someone else?

But Luke knew better, so he just changed the subject. "So … um …When can I expect you?"

"We'll be there in an hour or so. Be Ready."

Gust said goodbye to Luke with a happy grin. He believed that taking Joe with him over to Luke's place would make him jealous. 'Maybe that would make him realize what he really wants', Gust wishfully thought.

Soon after he ended the call, he jumped out of his bed and searched for the paper in his drawer, where Joe had written his number. When he got it, he quickly punched in the number to call him, and waited as the ringing went on.

"Hello?" Joe said in a hushed voice.

"Joe?" Gust didn't recognize his voice immediately, as the guy on the other end was whispering. "Is this Joe Brannan?" He asked with a doubt.

"Yeah? Who's this?"

Gust had to hold the phone closer to his ears. Joe was whispering and it was becoming harder to listen to him clearly. "Hey, it's Gust … Gust Rivera? We met in Java yesterday …?"

"Oh yes. Hey Gust. Tell me, what's up?"

"Um… why are you whispering?" Gust asked suspiciously.

"Huh? Oh …" Joe cleared his throat and spoke normally, "I am trying not to wake up a monster." He chuckled, looking at his little brother, who was sleeping peacefully in his bed. He ran his hand lovingly through his soft blond hair, and stood up to leave the room.

"What?"

"Nothing." Joe closed the door behind him as he came out. "So, you finally called huh? Guess you changed your mind?" His lips curled up into a knowing smile.

"Uhm … Yes." Gust stammered. "Look, I have never done this with a guy. So it's kinda weird for me. Hope you understand."

"I understand that." Gust went quiet so Joe asked hopefully, "So let's go out tonight."

"I'll pick you up in an hour."

"Sounds pretty desperate…"

"It's sort of a date. My brother and I are going to a friend's house, so I want you to come along." Gust suddenly felt guilty; Joe didn't deserve this. "Bring your swimming trunks along. You'll need them there."

"Are we going swimming?"

"Yes… hope you don't mind." Gust said, "I will feel comfortable around you that way."

"Cool. I'll be ready."

Luke opened the door for Gust and Joe with a smile. "Hey!" He let them enter, opening the door wide. Gust greeted him back and went right in, followed by the tall handsome guy behind him.

Joe shyly said, "Hello" to Luke.

"Luke, that's Joe! And Joe, this is Luke, my best friend!" Gust introduced them to one another. They smiled at each other.

"Hi Joe," Luke said. "Please sit"

Joe nodded at him hesitatingly, and sat beside Gust on the couch. He didn't know what to say so he dared not say anything, in case he said something stupid. Luke was someone special in Gust's life, and he didn't want to let him down.

Luke was quiet too. It still felt weird to him to meet someone as Gust's date, and that's why he didn't say anything either. Gust looked between them, and tilted his head in confusion. He had no clue what was going on in their minds.

"Hey, where's Matt?" Luke asked Gust.

"He's bringing his friend; I told you."

"Ok, I will bring you guys something to drink. I know what you want Gust, soda, right?" Gust nodded smiling. "And you Joe? What will you have?"

"Whatever is fine..."

"Soda for you too then?"Joe shrugged, and Luke went inside the kitchen to get their drinks. At that moment, there was a knock on the door. Luke yelled from the kitchen for Gust to open it. He guessed it must be Matt with his friend… he didn't expect anyone else on that bright sunny holiday other than the group.

When he arrived back in the living room, he heard Gust gasping, "What are you doing here?" Luke looked up, only to find Noah there with Matt, and he was as shocked as Gust was.

When Matt had invited Noah over to go swimming, he hadn't known his friend was taking him to Luke's place. Had he known, he would have declined immediately. But now that he had come, he thought it was better this way. At least, he would get to talk to Luke about things they needed to resolve, or else it would lead to a miserable uneasiness between them at school.

Noah saw Luke sitting by the edge of the pond with his feet dipped inside the water. He aimlessly played his legs in the water while he was deep in thought.

"Noah!" Matt yelled getting his attention, "What are you doing there? Come on in."

"I'll be right there!" He yelled back, and hurried to reach Luke.

Luke was pulled out of his trance by the voices, and he suddenly felt someone's presence behind him. "Can I sit with you for minute?" He heard a voice asking him softly. He looked up into Noah's blue eyes and looked away quickly, fearing that he would drown in them soon if he kept staring.

A shrug was what he got, and Noah sighed, leaning to sit down beside Luke. In the process, their arms collided and they both felt the blood rush through their veins ecstatically. Luke flinched and moved his hand away, while Noah just acted as if nothing had happened.

They looked at each other. Noah thought it was time he came clean, "Luke, what happened yesterday …"

Luke turned his face sharply, "Please sir, I don't want to talk about it." He fumed angrily, being reminded of what had happened yesterday. "You don't like ME and I get that, ok? I have accepted it."

"Luke, it's not like I don't like you." Noah fought with words, trying to make clear what he wanted to say. He twisted his body so as he could properly face Luke and continued, "It's just not in the romantic way, and you don't like me that way either."

"Come again?"

"Yes Luke, you feel that you like me in a romantic way. But in fact, it's just your infatuation you are acting upon. It happens to many kids; they feel a closeness to their teacher and they mistake it for love."

"Hello!" Luke waved his hands in air, seeming irate. He knew it was wrong to talk to his teacher that way, but they were not in school right now anyway. "I am not a kid. I am seventeen, for hell's sake. I do know what the difference is in a feeling of infatuation and love, so there's no need for you to lecture me on that, Mr. Mayer!"

Noah exhaled. "Why can't you understand Luke? You are so young, and you deserve much better than me."

"I would like to hear anything but that from you, sir." Luke snapped at him, "Don't get me wrong. And I do understand what you want, so I will keep my emotions in check. FINE?"

"One more thing." Noah said in a pleading voice, and Luke rolled his eyes. "Can we go back to being normal? I hate this tension between us, and I certainly don't want to lose a bright student like you."

Luke looked at Noah for some time, considering the option he suggested, and smiled lightening the mood. He nodded, thinking there's no reason in keeping their student-teacher relationship uncomfortable, so he agreed with Noah.

"NOAH!" Matt yelled once more.

"Coming!" Noah exclaimed loudly, and asked Luke, "Care to join? I hope you know how to swim, or will I have to teach you?"

Luke chuckled, "I know you are a teacher, but that doesn't mean you are better at everything than others."

"Are you challenging me, Luke?" Noah raised his right brow while his lips still curled up in a smile.

"Maybe." Luke said, and he stood up and dived into the water. Noah did the same, and soon they were engaged in a race. However their interactions made someone go green.

Gust watched them both from the other side of the pond and felt envious. 'Did Noah have to be Matt's friend, of all people?' He was so involved in thinking about them both that he didn't see Joe swimming right towards him. That's why it made him jump in surprise when Joe had come near him and whispered into his ear, "Hey beautiful!"

"Shit! You scared me."

Joe laughed. "I didn't know I was that scary. Hey, do I look that horrible?"

Gust looked at his half-naked posture, as he stood there all wet. He smiled. "Not at all. You are really good-looking. You just caught me off-guard right now."

Before he knew it, Joe snaked his hands around his waist, shocking Gust by his move, and pulled him closer. "You are not so bad yourself." He said sensuously while staring intently at Gust.

Gust couldn't move. He just kept staring back.

"You know, Gust? I never thought I would ever fall in love with someone, but I think fate knows exactly how to contradict one's thoughts and I guess, that's why destiny brought us together." He said, tenderly caressing Gust's cheek.

How immensely Gust had wished at that moment that Luke was the one saying it all in Joe's place right now! But on the other hand, he felt his heart beating for Joe …

'Would he just stop looking at me like that? It's making me weak in my knees. Damn! What's gotten into me! I have been playing with Joe's emotions. I shouldn't give him the wrong idea. He doesn't deserve it… I better tell him the truth.'

Gust saw Joe gawking at his lips hungrily. 'Oh my God! He's coming near me, what do I do?' He quickly backed off from Joe, shrugging his hold over him and swam away. Joe understood he had crossed the line and felt guilty. He would have to apologize for it later.

- TBC -


	5. Chapter 5

Matt got a weird feeling all of a sudden. Something was wrong. The way Joe was gawking at his little brother's naked posture, it made him want to kick his ass, but then Gust was giving THAT look to this guy as well. What did that mean? He had to know …

Just a few feet away, Luke was searching around for someone; when suddenly a figure jumped out behind him and gave his body a playful bump. He was startled at first, but laughed as Noah caught him by his waist, only to push him deep into the water.

"Ok. Fine. You win!" Luke said, trying to catch his breath. Noah laughed richly, and freed him out of his grasp.

Luke saw the opportunity and spun around quickly. Being as swift as lightning, he pushed Noah into the water. "Haha Gotcha!"

Noah came up breathless, running his hand down his face. He blinked several times before narrowing his eyes at Luke. "You are going to pay for this, you little piece of …"

Luke giggled and swam, trying to get away from Noah's reach. He turned his head around, watching Noah tearing through the waterline, speedily making his way behind him. "Yikes!" Luke yelled watching him come closer, and made himself disappear from over the surface.

Noah followed his lead, and soon they were swimming deep under the water of the pond. It wasn't that deep, but Luke always found it beautiful under there! He kept swimming until he thought he had come too far, and took an easy swirl to turn behind, but in the process came face to face with Noah. Noah hadn't expected him to turn, so it made him jerk in shock. He gulped, finding him so near to him. It was amazing that they were so close.

They lost their presence in the real world for a second as they stared at each other, taking so much beauty all in just one moment. Luke's long bangs kept swirling in the water; Noah had never seen anything so attractive before. On the other hand, Luke hungrily watched Noah's lips at that moment. He wanted a kiss so bad.

They were so taken in that moment that they had forgotten totally what they needed – oxygen to survive. A moment came when Luke went on to say something, but choked up, and that was when they both surfaced.

Luke coughed uncontrollably. The spell of their attraction was broken on him; but not for Noah. He kept eyeing him and Luke noticed that. When his coughing subsided, he hesitatingly put his palm over Noah's bare chest and shook him. Noah just moaned, not taking his eyes off Luke.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" Luke asked in a whisper, while drowning yet again into the deep blueness of Noah's eyes.

Noah cupped his cheek, stroked it for a second instinctively, and got closer to his face. Seeing him come near, Luke felt the blood rush through his veins in excitement, and closed his eyes in anticipation. He could feel Noah's warm breath on his lips, and it drove him crazy. He wanted those lips on his so bad. Luke had dreamt about it from day one, and now it was actually happening.

Their lips collided, and they both felt a heavenly surge inside them. But it didn't last for more than a second.

"Luke!" Voices called them, "Noah! Where are you?" The calls from far away hit Noah's ears and he backed off in horror. He looked at Luke's confused face and felt culpable. Why did he do this? Such a gruesome mistake…he wished he could rewind, and take back the kiss.

But things were done. "Noah …?" Luke whispered, as tears stung his eyes. He figured what was going on in Noah's mind. His hand reached for him, but Noah stepped back. He shook his head, turning around and swam away leaving Luke in thousands of tears.

Luke came back to the farm following Noah. When he entered, he saw Noah all dressed and ready to leave. Noah was with his back towards Luke, so when he turned around, he saw a disheartened guy standing in front of him, who seemed to have lost all happiness in his life.

"Please don't leave like this. I … I like you, and I know you like me too … otherwise, why would you …" Luke tried to form words to express his feeling but it was all in vain, so he exhaled and looked away in irritation.

Noah took a minute to compose himself. He approached Luke and held him firmly by his shoulder. With a straight face, he sternly said, "I don't have any romantic feelings for you, you get that? You are just my student, nothing more."

Luke's watery eyes looked into Noah's emotionless blue ones in disbelief. "Really? And what about what you did back at the pond?" Luke yelled. "You almost kissed me godammit!"

"I …" Noah stammered, and walked away in annoyance. "I don't know … I- I was joking, how can I kiss you for real?"

"Maybe because you DO have feelings for me Noah, and you just don't want to admit it."

Noah couldn't take it anymore. "I am going," he huffed, rolling his eyes. He threw his dufflebag behind his shoulder and left, slamming the door behind him. The banging of the door echoed in the whole room, but the sounds of Luke's heart breaking into pieces went unheard.

Gust came rushing through the door, wiping his wet head with the towel. He saw Luke by the counter making sandwiches. He looked up but didn't smile at Gust. "Want one?" Luke asked.

"No, I'm good." Gust looked at him suspiciously. "Did you see Joe?"

Luke gave a nod. "He just left. He asked me to tell you that he had to go somewhere urgently. But he said he will call you whenever he gets time."

"Oh" Gust still stared at Luke's unchanging expression of sadness on his face, so he asked, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, why?" Luke got cautious by that question.

"Because you don't look alright to me, and since you are making so many sandwiches for no reason, I thought something must be bothering you." Gust explained.

"I was hungry." Luke shrugged.

"Right!" Gust smirked, watching the dozens of sandwiches Luke had made. "Those look like they are enough to serve the whole town of Oakdale." He shook his head and sternly asked, "Ok tell me; what is it?"

"There's nothing bothering me." Gust raised his right brow at him and Luke sighed. "Alright … it's … have you ever felt so taken by someone, that you feel like you are flying in the air when you are with him, but something is always there stopping you from getting close and …"

"Luke?" Gust got worried.

"Uhm … it's about my friend …"

'You?' Gust's thoughts wondered.

"He is attracted to someone …"

'ME! … um … right?' Gust hopefully wished.

"And this someone likes someone else…"

'He's gotta to be talking about Joe … oh my god!' Gust waited for him to continue further, "Ok"

"But I … um … my friend I mean … my friend thinks that the one who he likes, also likes him, but doesn't want to admit."

'But I did!' He mulled over. "But he did," Gust blurted out and quickly saved himself. "Your friend's crush … he must have said something … or done something, which makes you think that he likes you."

Luke was surprised and blushed. "It's not about me… It's about my friend."

"Right! Your friend …" Gust nodded understandingly.

"And yes, he of course did something which makes my friend think that he likes him … but what do you think he should do now?"

Gust gave out an amused laugh. He couldn't help but smile, "I dunno … I think he should fight for his love I guess. Who knows, maybe that guy he likes might be wanting him to fight for him." He slyly smiled.

Luke gave it a thought and broke into a big smile. "You know what? You are right! I should just do that." He laughed. He had to find a way to win his Noah. They just belonged together. "Thanks man! I owe you big time."

He ran across the counter and gave his friend a huge hug. Gust closed his eyes taking in the lovely moment. The thought of Luke fighting someone to get him, itself was enthralling. He couldn't wait to officially get Luke as his first ever boyfriend.

The clicking sound of door opening got both of their attention. Matt stood there looking between both the boys. "Hey Matt." Luke said, letting Gust out of the friendly embrace. Gust shied away and reached for his clothes to hide his blush.

"Would you like some sandwiches?" Luke asked smiling.

"No thanks." Matt snapped, and turned to get his clothes out of his bag.

Luke and Gust exchanged looks. It was weird for a guy like Matt to remain so quiet. Gust shrugged and ignored it. After they were dressed, Matt quickly left the room saying, "I'll be waiting outside. Goodbye Luke."

"By …" But before Luke could say anything, he was already gone . "What's wrong with him?"

"He and his mood swings… can't live with him, can't live without him." Gust rolled his eyes. "I will see ya later."

"Hey wait!" Luke called out, as Gust was about to open the door. Gust turned towards him and waited. "Um … what are you doing tonight?"

"Nothing, why?"

"I wanted to know if you would like to see a movie tonight with me?"

"Really?" Gust's heartbeat sped up.

"Yup. I thought I would take your advice, and try and help my friend in winning over his crush." Luke winked suggestively.

But Gust took it wrong way. "What's on your mind, Snyder?"

"You will see." Luke smiled and Gust felt warmth all over his body. He was feeling as if he was the luckiest person in the world.

Matt drove his car back home. They were almost half way home, and Matt hadn't uttered a word. Gust was starting to feel something was seriously wrong. He watched his brother's face. Matt looked deep in thought. He pondered what was running through his mind.

"I really had fun today." Gust spoke up. "What about you?"

"Hmm"

"I didn't know Mr. Mayer was your friend. You know he is our history teacher."

"Yeah."

The monosyllabic answers were now starting to annoy him. It got him desperate now. "Ok spill. What has happened to you? You have not uttered a word since we left Luke's place, and now when I talk, I only get a 'hmm' and a 'yeah'. Is it me? Did I do something wrong?"

All of a sudden, Matt pulled the car to a unexpected halt, making them both jerk. "We're home." He said in an unaffected voice, and began to get out of the car. But Gust held him back, "Wait! You need to answer me first."

Matt fumingly faced him. His eyes were bloodshot and his cheeks red. He looked so angry. He opened his mouth twice but closed it quickly. It was making Gust anxious. "What?"

"Let's go in first."

Gust did as he said. He followed Matt's trail timidly inside their house. Their parents were sitting at the couch. They greeted them with a smile as they entered. "Hey you two. Had fun?"

"Yes mom." Gust smiled and gave her a kiss.

"Matt? You don't look happy." Their father noticed.

"I am obviously not," He snarled rudely at his brother, "and you won't be too after hearing what I discovered today."

Gust furrowed his brows at him. "What are you talking about?"

Matt shot him a deathly glare, "Did you tell them about your dirty little secret, Gust?" He laughed in sarcasm, "I don't think so."

"Wh-what secret?" Gust stammered in fear.

"Oh, you want me to say it out loud? Well then, I will do that." He briskly turned to his parents and declared in phony happiness, "Mom and dad, your son, Gust Rivera, is not what we had thought he was for all these years."

"Matt, be clear, what do you want to say?" His dad scolded.

"He is gay, dad. Our Gust is a freaking closeted homosexual." He spat, and giving a last disgusted look at his brother, he stormed up the stairs to his room.

And Gust was left there in shock. He couldn't breathe steady; he kept huffing trying to take in breaths. Why did all this have to happen today? How was he going to look at his mom and dad in the eye now? How was he going to face his brother, who seemed to hate him so much now? He could see himself losing his family, and he didn't know what to do.

- TBC -


	6. Chapter 6

Gust splashed more water on his face, ran his hand down his face and looked at the mirror in the bathroom. He looked like shit. His red puffy eyes, paled out skin, quivering lips, had drained all his attractiveness at that moment. Yet again, a tear rolled down his cheek and he couldn't help but break down again replaying the scene that was created in the living room few hours ago. He was so ashamed. He could feel the eyes over his back and guessed his parents were disgusted to find out truth, just like his brother, otherwise they would have said something. But the room remained silent for a long time before he shut his eyes tight, letting a tear roll out of them, and rushed upstairs to his room.

Since that time, he had locked himself in his room and cried his eyes out. At some point, he thought he heard low chatter outside the door, but it quieted soon, so he assumed he must have imagined it. He reflected on old, happy times that he had spent with his parents, laughing and crying at the same time, and began to feel lonely all of a sudden. As his thoughts went deeper, he imagined the worst situation. What if his parents wouldn't approve of his orientation? Would they kick him out? Where would he go?

He considered calling Luke, but then he changed his mind thinking he didn't want to ruin their first ever date by whining about his shitty situation and cancelling it. He had looked at the clock, astonished that it was 7 pm already. He checked his cell phone and smiled, seeing there was a text from Luke. 'I will be waiting for you at the movie theatre. Movie starts at 8 pm, so don't be late. Later!' He needed to rush, but he was too weakened. He had skipped lunch too.

Somehow he had dragged himself out of the bed and to the bathroom, and now here he was trying hard to wipe that horrifying expression off his face. It was all in vain. He rubbed his eyes to stop them from tearing up, and with a last splash on his face, he was out of there. He changed into a good casual shirt and jeans to go with it, and came downstairs.

He slowed down as he descended the stairs, and by the last step he saw his parents look up at him. Their faces didn't show any kind of emotion and it looked as if he had interrupted an important talk. Gust didn't even wanted to guess what was it about because he already knew what was it about.

"I am going out. Don't let me bother you." He murmured, and turned to head for the door.

"Gust, sweetie ..." His mom called in a pleading voice to stop him, making him turn to them timidly. "We want to have a word with you." She said looking at her husband as she said.

Gust nodded and took a step nearing them. He kept his head down low, ready to take whatever they said.

"You didn't come down for lunch?" His mom asked worriedly.

He shrugged, not looking up yet. "I wasn't really hungry."

She nodded. "I-uh did come to talk to you before, but your dad stopped me because he wanted you to have your time alone with your thoughts. Maybe ..." His mom exhaled annoyingly and blurted, "Are you sure about this? I mean you could be confused about your sexuality, but that doesn't make you ..."

Gust frowned seeing she had difficulty even saying that word. "Just say it, mom. The word is 'gay'. Get in the habit of using it and hearing it, because I am damn sure I am not 'confused' about this." He said making air quotes in irritation. He huffed and began to leave. 

"Gust!" A stern voice called him. It was his dad, finally speaking up. He stood up, straightening his coat and approached him. His dad palmed his shoulder and made him turn to face him. He looked up into his dark, brown eyes, without any hope. But those brown eyes softened and smiled at him sadly. "My boy, don't get your mother wrong. You should understand this thing is hard to swallow for us, and we are concerned about you, your future. And besides, you had dated several girls before ..."

"I didn't know what I wanted at that particular time, but I knew I wasn't happy. Never!"

"I know," Gust's dad released his hold on him and continued, "and I know that things will be different from now on, and we are ready to accept that change because we love you."

Gust perked up hearing that, and looked with hope at his dad. His mom stood up from the couch too and stood behind her husband, "Yes Gust, we love you. I love you, and I have loved you since the first time you were given to me in my arms in the hospital." Her eyes got watery and she squeezed her husband's bicep, being reminded of that beautiful moment in her life. "You were so tiny and I just couldn't feel anything but all the love for you. Back then it didn't matter to me what you would grow up to be, and it still doesn't matter to me, because I just love you for what you are and who you are as a person."

"Mom ..." Gust was speechless. He had tears in his eyes, and he jumped to give them both a big hug. "I love you too mom and dad. I love you to no extent." He began crying hard in their arms and all they could do was to shush their little child between their silent cries. "I was so scared. I thought I'd lose you. I couldn't have lived a day without you."

"Oh honey!" His mom rubbed his back, "You'd never lose us at all."

He let go the hug and sniffed, saying, "But I did lose my brother in all this."

"No you didn't." Gust's dad said, "Give him some time. He will slowly accept it. He loves you, too, you know."

"I know." Gust smiled, sounding relieved now.

"Sweetie, will you be here for dinner, or do you have other plans?"

"Actually I do, mom. I have a date... with a guy." He cautiously dropped it on them and waited for them to react.

There was slight surprise on both of their faces, but then they recovered quickly. "Oh! I guess you'll be eating out then." His mom said.

And his dad warned, "Well boy, you know the curfew. You better be home by then."

Gust was pleasantly shocked to get such a normal reaction from them over this. He never expected that, so he was grinning wide. "I will. Thanks dad." He hugged them both for a short moment and said a quick bye before he left. He had that unaffected grin still on his face, until he came face to face with Matt, who was right there on the door step. Matt was coming home from somewhere.

Gust lost his smile while looking at his brother's face, which turned hard at his sight. Without a word, he sharply passed him, bumping him harshly and went inside banging the door behind him.

His behaviour screamed to Gust that he was not needed in his life. With a sad face, Gust walked away.

"Hey ..."

He saw Noah turn around with a smile, and shrunk his body to hide deeper behind the bushes. Luke had been tracking his moves for last fifteen minutes as Noah waited for his date to arrive. Most of the time, he would be just staring at his handsome professor, studying his habits – like how Noah would run his hand through his dark hair, or pinch his nose every now and then aimlessly, how his blue eyes would dart around looking here and there, searching for someone. It was utterly cute that he was oblivious of the fact that he was being watched, and according to Luke, that made it all dreamy for him.

But the dream broke by the arrival of a hunky dude, and Luke got cautious.

"I have been waiting here for so long. I thought you stood me up." Noah said, putting on his rich smile.

"Nah! I am not a jerk to miss a lucky date with you." He could see the sneer on Chris' face even from between the bushes, and felt like punching his face to wipe it off. It was that unbearable to him.

And then something happened that made anger rush run through his vein; his body heated up, shudderingin wrath, as Chris stepped up and placed a light kiss on Noah's cheek. The fact that Noah didn't resist, added more fuel to his anger.

"What the heck!" he lowly grumbled.

While Gust was walking to the movie theatre, his mind shifted away from thoughts of Matt hating him, to wondering what the night was about to bring for him and Luke. He wondered whether Luke would be able to see through the sadness he has gone through today. He always did; it was almost impossible to hide anything from him. They were so close to each other that they shared almost everything, but he was determined to not open his mouth about today. He might tell him tomorrow, but not today. Tonight deserved to be a special and happy one night.

He began to think of all happy things while he walked, and soon he had cheered up. By the time he reached the theatre, he was in utter bliss; excited for this date. He checked his appearance while he walked to Luke.

Luke was with his back to him, standing at the entrance looking inside impatiently.

"Hey."

Luke almost jumped by his sudden arrival, and scowled at him. "For fuck's sake, don't you have the word 'punctual' in your dictionary? You are too damn late, dude." Gust lost his smile and was shocked at Luke's outburst, but he apologized.

Luke rolled his eyes. "Hurry up now or we will miss seeing them." He blurted out, searching for someone inside the theatre.

Gust was confused. "What?"

"Uhm ... I mean, the movie. We should hurry up or we will miss the beginning part, and I hate missing the beginning; you know that."

Gust chuckled, as Luke was literally dragging him inside. "Whoa! Slow down cutie, Let's buy the tickets first."

'Cutie? Did he just call me that?' Luke furrowed his eyebrows, but then shrugged it off. Other things were more important. "It's taken care of, let's just go." He impatiently bubbled out.

Gust giggled the way Luke pulled him in. Luke was about to rush inside the movie hall when he caught a glimpse of a familiar face and he halted. Not leaving the sight of the man, he said to Gust, "You go inside and look for two seats for us in the back. I will ..." He struggled for an excuse and came up with, "I will get us some popcorn and drinks."

"OK ... but, why the back seats?" He wondered aloud.

Luke looked at him funny. 'So that I can keep an eye on Noah and the coach? DUH, dumbo!' He wanted to scream, but he huffed instead, "Just do as I said. Go now" He pushed.

"Aye, Aye Captain." Gust rolled his eyes and did as he was asked to do.

When he was gone, Luke turned to the sight of his beloved man again. He quickly reviewed his appearance one last time before approaching the counter. He took the other counter; different from where Noah was waiting for his order, and said loudly. "Large popcorn and coke for two, please." He emphasised the word 'two' while he placed the order. It was strange, but his plan worked, because it got Noah's attention.

Luke could see him looking at him from the corner of his eyes, and he smiled to himself. He was looking everywhere but at Noah. When Noah's order arrived, he took it, but lingered at the counter for longer than normal, then walked at a snail's pace to go in. Not long after, Luke's order arrived as well, and he took it, thanking the server and briskly walked back in. He acted as if he hadn't seen Noah at all.

Noah followed behind him with cautious steps, and saw him approaching the back row. He saw Gust waving at Luke, trying to get his attention, and felt an instant jealousy. He quickly recovered from that, and walked down to where Chris was sitting. He handed over the popcorn bucket to him, and took his seat.

All throughout the movie, Noah couldn't concentrate. Chris would be talking to him occasionally, but he would just nod. His mind was somewhere else. His head would keep turning against his sane thoughts to spy on Luke and Gust closely. It would feel weird inside him when he would see them laughing, talking and ... touching.

He had turned swiftly, facing the big screen, when the sight of Luke with someone else became impossible to bear.

Luke was enjoying getting such reaction out of Noah. Even in the dark, he could see his head turning to them from the corner of his eyes. He was in bliss, but all his dreams were broken soon, as he saw Chris starting to caress Noah's cheek.

Noah's mind was pre-occupied when Chris had asked whether he could kiss him, and Noah nodded senselessly. Chris smiled brightly and cupped his face, holding it in his direction.

"Oh my God, they are going to kiss!" Luke screeched in realisation.

Gust was taken aback by sudden change in Luke's demeanour, and replayed of what he said. There was a scene going on, on the screen, where the protagonist male was conversing with his mother. He looked at Luke funny. "You think they are going to kiss each other?"

"What do you think? He is so close ... shit! I think he is almost there."

Gust was sure now that he wasn't talking about the film, so his eyes followed the direction in which Luke was intently looking. He couldn't properly see in the dark, and since the two men's faces were so close, their shadows were hiding the view of their faces. But suddenly, one man backed off and the light from the screen reflected on his face and he recognised him.

"Mr. Mayer!" He exclaimed in shock. "And he is with our coach? I didn't know they were dating!"

"Pfew! Thank god... they didn't kiss." Luke exhaled in relief.

Now it hit Gust ... all of it. "No way! I can't fucking believe you are using me in your little shitty game plan, you prick!"

Luke was caught and he felt culpable. "Gust, I can explain." He said helplessly, but Gust couldn't take it anymore. This was supposed to be a happy date ... but this broke his heart into million pieces.

"Go to hell!" He shrugged off Luke's touch and got up, leaving the theatre.

Luke fought with his urge to sit there and spy on whether Noah and Chris were going to try 'it' again. But the love for his friend took over his heart, and he followed him outside.

"Gust ... wait!"

"What Luke? What is there to explain? You are messing with my heart, with my emotions." Tears stung his eyes. "You damn well knew I had feelings for you, and you took advantage of that to make that queer professor jealous? Really? Didn't you even once think of our friendship?"

"Woah! You gotta be shitting me. I thought you were over the childish best friend crush... What did you think, this was a date?" Luke smirked.

Now Gust felt like a fool. Thinking Luke was only for him, but he was proved wrong. Could this day get any worse for him? He couldn't reply to Luke's questions but the tears flowing uncontrollably, answered him and Luke felt sorry for being so harsh to his best friend.

Gust couldn't stand there anymore so he scurried out. Luke wanted to go with him, but he thought since Gust wasn't thinking clearly, it was not the right time to talk. And also, he had other matters to attend to right now.

Now that Gust wasn't here, Luke had to think of a backup plan. He stressed his brain trying to think of something good, but his mind was blank. While he was busy thinking, he saw Chris running out of the hall, approaching the washroom, while rubbing the drink off his clothes. And it clicked ...

Gust was lonely walking on the streets, heading to nowhere in particular. He just kept walking, left alone with his gloomy mood and tears to accompany it.

Thinking of what Luke did to him, he thought he deserved it. After all, he did the same to Joe as well, and that innocent guy didn't even know it yet. If he found out, it would hurt him as much as it was hurting Gust right now.

His dreams were shattered. Luke didn't like him like 'that'. He was only a best friend to him, nothing more. Going back in past, he knew all the gestures coming from Luke meant something else. He was so stupid to believe that it all were in romantic way.

Gust was near Olde Town when a car pulled to the side to where he was walking, and it honked trying to get his attention.

"Hey Gust! What are you doing out here so late?" Joe asked, getting out of his car and walking around to reach Gust. "Someone as precious as you, shouldn't stay out so late. You can't trust the muggers. Hey are you trying to get me robbed?" He teased.

Gust looked down, trying to hide his puffy eyes and sad look behind a fake smile. "I was just going home."

"Yeah, that's ok but ..." Gust sniffed without realizing it, and Joe picked on it, "Wait, are you crying, baby?" He looked down to meet his teary eyes. Joe had a worried look on his face. He held Gust's chin by his hand, and made him look up at him. And that was what made the dam break ... Gust kept sobbing hysterically and mumbling his apology. Joe freaked and didn't know what to do. He tried taking him in his arms, but Gust would shrug saying he didn't deserve such kindness. Joe became helpless and couldn't anything but try to soothe him, asking about what had happened.

"I am an asshole. I was so stupid to use you to make him jealous. I didn't even think about how dreadful you would feel, when you realized what I was doing. But I swear I didn't mean to hurt you. I know you're hurt, but I never intended this. If it makes you happy though, it all backfired on me. And if you still feel I need to be punished more, go ahead, punish me to the extreme."

"You are a bad guy, Gust ..." Joe said with a straight face.

"I guess I deserve that." He wiped the tears off his cheek, casting his eyes down in shame.

"Yes you do, and I am going to punish you." He suddenly raised his fist high up and Gust shut his eyes quickly. He was ready for whatever came his way ... but something unexpected happened. Instead of a fist hitting him, a warm hand caressed his cheek, and then he felt moist lips linger on his own puffed ones. He was shocked at first but gave in into the kiss, as it made him feel better. It all felt right.

Noah turned around once again. Luke and Gust were gone and his mind worked overtime thinking about them. Images of Luke and Gust making out in the stalls of restroom of the movie theatre, began harassing his mind. At one point, he even felt an impulse to go check on where they were. But he controlled his emotions.

After some time, Chris came back and Noah turned to him apologetically. "I am sorry for spilling the drink on your clothes. I was just nervous kissing you ... hey, why are you wearing the hood?"

Chris shivered "Are you feeling cold?" Noah asked, and Chris bobbed his covered head. "Well, if you are not feeling well, we can leave. It's okay."

Chris shook his head, twisted a bit in his chair facing Noah, and touched his cheek. Noah took the hint and got ready for it again. This was the third time he was trying this. The first two attempts were a disaster, but he didn't want the third one to be embarrassing. He prepared himself mentally, and palmed Chris' cheek too, nearing him.

Same as before, flashbacks of the 'almost kiss' with Luke that day, tickled his memory. The warmth he felt while nearing those tender lips, he was feeling it again now. The sensation he got when he had felt Luke's breath on his lips, he felt it now as well. But unlike other times, he didn't back off this time and kissed the inviting, luscious lips eagerly waiting him. They hungrily kissed each other like never before ... it was the effect that was divine to them. The world had stopped turning for them, and they were the only souls present in it right now. They both were unstoppable.

Somewhere between the hurried kisses, Chris' hood fell off his head and revealed the blond hair hiding beneath it. When they broke apart, they were breathing hard but smiling wide. However a flash of light in that dark room revealed the person's identity hiding behind the hood, and Noah lost his smile. "Luke?" Noah's throat went dry looking at his alluring student sitting beside him, with whom he had just shared a mind-blowing kiss.


	7. Chapter 7

When Gust got breathless, he broke the kiss. He had an amusing smile on his face. A few minutes ago he was feeling like ass, and now he was stoked for what would be coming his way from now on. He never thought of Joe in romantic way before he experienced kissing Joe ... his first kiss ever! And he was glad it came from someone who actually liked him.

Joe was smiling sweetly at him as he eyed him sensually.

"I don't understand." Gust said confused, "I thought you'd be hurt by what I did." Suddenly, he realized something and his mood went down again. He sighed sadly, "Perchance, you wanted to show me how it feels to raise someone's hopes falsely, and then shatter their heart into pieces. Believe me, I feel really guilty about what I did."

That got a chuckle out of Joe, and he caressed Gust's cheek to assure him. "You are so silly. Why would I do that? I don't believe in revenge or payback, if that's what you think I'd do. No way!"

The look on his face proved that what he said was uttered from his heart. "I don't know. How can you forgive me?"

"Who said anything about forgiveness?" Joe let his hand drop off Gust's face and pulled up a straight face. "Frankly, I already knew there was something up with you. I didn't know what, but even though I knew I was destined for heartbreak, I kept up a normal facade."

"Why?"

"I dunno ... maybe my heart didn't want me to let you go." He stared right into Gust's brown eyes when he said that.

"... and you felt that way because...?" Gust wanted to know.

"Because I love you." The words escaped his mouth before even he had the time to consider revising them in his mind. They had become a habit to his mouth ever since he had met Gust in Java, and he just blurted them out this time.

Gust's mouth went dry with Joe's sudden confession. For a moment, he didn't understand if it was real or if it was just a dream. "What ... but how could you? We've just met." He stated as a matter of fact.

Joe shrugged. "But this is how I feel. Guess it was love at first sight for me."

Gust looked down and mumbled, "And the second sight dispelled it."

"Nope! It paid off to take a second look." He chuckled. "But no pressure; I didn't plan to tell you about it so soon. So take your time, and it's okay if you don't have the same feelings towards me."

It was unbelievable. A great respect rose in Gust's mind for Joe with those words. "You are a great guy, Joe. Can I ... kiss you?" He asked bashfully.

"Yes!" Joe got a toothy grin from that proposal. Gust took his face in his hands and pushed his lips forcefully on Joe's. It was the need of time, and maybe ... a glint of attraction for Joe that he had been hiding deep inside him, that got the best of him when he kissed Joe.

When they broke apart, Joe had a serious look on his face. "Now, time for your punishment."

"What?" Gust was taken aback.

"Yes, you can't escape it, Mr. Rivera."

Gust nodded. "I am ready for whatever punishment you decide for me."

"Tomorrow is Sunday. My mom and dad won't be home till late, and I can manage to sexile my sister in afternoon, so that you and I can get some alone time together. Fair enough?"

Gust looked into the naughty emerald eyes and smiled shaking his head. "You are too lenient. I thought you would ..." and a thought crossed his mind, making him freeze in horror. To clear his head, he asked hesitantly, "What do you mean by sexile your sister to leave us alone?"

Joe realized how sick it must have sounded when he said that, so he held out his hands promising, "No funny business ... just a casual date. And I want to get to know you."

"Oh ... that's okay I guess." He exhaled in relief. He wasn't ready for anything else yet.

"So how about I pick you up at your place?" Joe asked, "I can give you a ride back home afterwards."

Gust nodded his approval.

"Cool!" Now he couldn't wait for tomorrow. "Come on, get inside the car. I will drop you off at home." Joe grinned.

Noah lost his smile. "Luke?" Noah's throat went dry looking at his alluring student sitting beside him, with whom he had just shared a mind-blowing kiss. "Holy crap!" He quickly stood up on his wobbly feet, looking down at Luke in horror. His forehead perspired in panic. This must just be a horrible nightmare he thought; this wasn't supposed to happen; he could get in big trouble.

People from the back row began yelling for him to sit down, as he blocked their view of the screen. Luke looked over his back and again at Noah. He opened his mouth but nothing came out; not a single word. He was, without any doubt, overwhelmed by the kiss. He still felt dizzy by that great feeling.

Suddenly, he saw Noah walking past him and approaching the exit.

"Noah..." he called after at him and ran to follow him out. But Noah wouldn't stop. He hurried out of the movie theatre with the intention to leave. He wanted to go back home as soon as possible.

Once outside, Luke quickened his pace, and before Noah could get into his car, Luke caught up with him.

"Hey, wait up!" Luke placed his hand on his shoulder, but Noah shrugged it off sharply, as if it had burned him.

He turned roughly to face Luke and glared daggers at him. "I was putting up with all of your shit, just because I thought you were a kid acting up because of his stupid infatuation for his teacher. But I was wrong." He scowled. His eyes were bloodshot and he was yelling by now. "You are one of those sick faggots who want to satisfy the needs of their body, by hook or by crook. You disgust me, Luke Snyder; you make me sick; I want to spit on you."

"Noah..?" Luke's eyes dampened rapidly. Every word coming from Noah was like a knife stabbing his heart.

"Quit calling me that." He yelled. "It sounds filthy to me every time I hear it. You think you are capable of luring anyone in this fucking world, but I am the exception. And you better accept that as soon as you can."

Noah's whole body was shivering with an uncontrollable anger. But then his eyes met the sight of a glistening teardrop that started right from the corner of Luke's eye that stared at him, and rolled down his face. And he realized what insensitive things he had said to Luke just now. This seemed to calm his anger down.

But he didn't let Luke see it, and he turned swiftly away. He got into his car and drove off. He looked at Luke through the rear view mirror while driving away, and felt his heart go out for that guy. But this was probably for the best, he thought.

Luke couldn't believe what had just happened. He hadn't imagined that things could go that bad. "Was this what Noah was thinking of me all this time?" He let out a sob. "Shit! He thinks I am some slut, because I was acting like that?" He said to himself in shock.

"Noah!" A voice called out repeatedly from inside the building. Luke heard it getting closer. He quickly rubbed out the tears from his eyes, and turned to see Chris coming out looking for Noah. When he saw Luke, he became suspicious.

He walked up to him. "Snyder?" He faced Luke. "What are you doing here?"

Luke observed his features to see if he was angry. But no, he looked more worked up than angry and Luke knew why. "Uhm... I am outside a movie theatre, so of course I am here to watch a movie, Coach." He stated as a matter of fact.

"Yes, but ... wait!" He recognised the familiar hoodie that Luke wore. "That's my hoodie, where did you get that?"

Luke panicked and quickly began to remove it, trying to think of some plausible excuse; otherwise he would be in big trouble.

Chris, however, put one and one together and figured it all out. "Are you the asshole who locked me in the stalls, back in the restroom?"

Luke gave out a nervous laugh, trying to act cool, although he was freaking out inside. "What? You were locked in the stalls by someone?" He acted innocent and giggled.

Chris reddened in embarrassment. He was locked up by someone in the restroom, helpless. He kept screaming for help, but no one heard him, that is until a man walked in to use the restroom. "Yes. But you keep your mouth shut about it, Mr. Snyder. You don't want trouble."

"No I don't." Luke said seriously, and handed him back his hoodie. Chris took it and put it on, forgetting to ask where Luke had got the hoodie from.

"Did you see Noah ... I mean Mr. Mayer. Did you see him? He was with me. I think he must have gone searching for me. It did take me forever to return."

Luke couldn't say a thing. But his mood went back to being gloomy again. A beeping sound interrupted Chris from saying anything else, and he got his phone out to check the incoming text.

"Damn! He is gone. He must have been upset with me." He mumbled to himself in sadness. And without saying anything else to Luke, he left.

Luke felt the loneliness take over him. He started walking with his thoughts working overtime in his mind. All the things that Mr. Mayer had said to him, and all the things that had happened between then until now, the kiss included, ran through his mind.

'Noah said he is disgusted by me. But the way he used to look at me, I could swear his eyes expressed anything but disgust. I know I did wrong posing as Chris to get him kiss me, but he was about to kiss me at the pond. Though he snapped at me, saying it was all of joke. How can you be so engrossed in a kiss, if it's supposed to be a joke? It didn't seem to be a joke, really ...'

There were answers to his questions, but all of it confused him.

Luke walked where his feet took him. He wiped the tears with his hands and stared at them. The tears were the evidence of how bad he was feeling right now. 'But Noah might think I'm faking these feelings. He doesn't believe me or my love for him. How am I gonna live with the fact that Noah hates me for life ... the rejection will kill me.'

"God!" He moaned as he sobbed, silently crying out some more tears. He realized he had walked too far; almost near the bridge at Mill Road. He considered changing his path, but as he turned, he saw a structure in the distance. He looked far, penetrating his gaze through the darkness, and saw a lonely bridge.

His sane mind went numb, and his feet automatically moved towards it with some kind of determination.

The car screeched as it came to a sudden halt in front of Gust's place. "This is where I live." Gust pointed behind his back as he faced Joe. "I would have asked you to come inside, but now is not the right time." He chuckled.

"Yeah; it's too late." Joe nodded in understanding, but Gust knew Joe didn't actually understand what Gust was really trying to say. "But I know your place now. You keep your windows open during the night, just in case I start missing you too much."

Gust laughed. "You don't even know which one is my room. And how the hell would you climb up?"

"Aha! I know at least that your room is upstairs. And don't worry about how I would get up there. People plant huge trees in the backyard; I would put them to good use." He winked.

"Try that sometime then." Gust giggled knowing if Joe ever tried, he would end up in his parent's room.

Joe raised his right eyebrow. "Are you challenging me, baby?"

"Maybe."

"Well then ..."

"Gust!" An angry voice interrupted Joe, and they both looked in the direction of the voice. Matt stood on the porch glaring at them, and he noticed how awfully close their faces were at that moment. Looking at him, both of them sat back in their own seats. Joe clasped his hands on the steering wheel, readying himself to face Gust's brother. Matt approached the car and he bent down by the window on Gust's side and smirked, "What language do you understand, Queer Brennan?"

"Matt ..." Gust started, but Matt cut him off with his hand.

"Didn't you understand when I asked you to stay away from my brother?" Matt said with his teeth clenched tight in anger.

"What? You asked ... when ..." Gust was confused and looked between both of them. And then he realized, "You left the pond because of him?"

"Shut up Gust. Let me handle this." Matt said raising his voice.

Gust couldn't take it anymore. He furiously pushed the car door open and got out if it, coming face to face with his brother. Both boys anger was at par now. "What the hell Matt! What were you thinking threatening him like that?"

"He was touching you ... he had a sick look on his face when he looked at you..." Matt's face was red, and he was getting angrier.

"That is called love, Matt. Ever heard of that word?" A shocked look passed Matt's face.

"Fuck, you can't be in love. You are still young ..."

"So what? I can be in love with anyone, and I am in love with Joe." Gust said, surprising both Matt as well as Joe, who was now out of the car and standing behind his boy. He wanted to do a happy dance right there, but then he understood that Gust might have said this out of sheer anger. That's what stopped him from getting his hopes up. "... And I don't think my love life is any of your business." Gust had continued.

Matt looked between the two of them. Gust sensed Joe's presence behind him. He took a step back and took Joe's hand in his, brought it up and kissed it. Matt saw the interchange of the looks between the two of them, and felt abashed with defeat. So, all he could do was huff and storm back inside the house.

Gust rolled his eyes and faced Joe again. "I am sorry for his behaviour. He is not always like that."

"I didn't feel bad about what he said, so don't sweat it." He grinned before nervously nearing Gust's face. "Gust? Did you really mean what you said before?"

Gust's throat went dry watching the deep love in Joe's eyes. He knew what he was talking about, but still feigned innocence. "What are you talking about?" He gulped, getting nervous being so close to Joe, so he took a step back.

"You know what I am talking about," Joe whispered, smiling and took a step closer to him, "What you said to Matt, that you are in love with me... was that true?"

"Uhm ... I ..." Gust stammered. He took another step back but bumped his back against the car. He was trapped, and Joe made it hard for him to escape by caging him between his hands. He leaned more into him; their lips inches apart.

"Gust ...?" Gust could feel Joe's breath and went dizzy.

"I ..." Gust didn't know what to say because he wasn't sure himself as to why he had said that. He looked past Joe and called out, "Matt?"

Joe jumped a few feet away from Gust in fright, and looked around searching for an angry punch heading towards him. Gust laughed out loud and Joe realized he was just messing with him.

"Damn! You scared the shit out of me... what the hell, man!" Joe laughed too, holding his hand over his chest.

"You should have seen your face." Gust teased.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yes." Gust shook his head, still giggling. "Good night Joe." He walked away to go inside.

"Hey Gust!" Joe called making him turn to him quizzically, "You didn't answer me."

However, Gust just flashed one of his attractive smiles and forcefully worded out, "Good night, Joe. See you tomorrow."

Joe chuckled. "Yeah, see ya!" he said, still dizzy by the effect of Gust's smile. He followed the view of Gust's sexy ass swaying as he walked, until he disappeared inside the house. "Shit, I love him!" he dreamily mumbled to himself, before getting into the car and driving off.

An older man drove his truck through the lonely roads of Oakdale. It had gotten really dark, and he was in a hurry. So he was driving his truck at the speed of 60mph, while keeping an eagle's eye on the road. The road was pretty much empty, so he had no worries about driving too fast.

With his one hand on the steering wheel, he tried to tune the radio to get a better signal. It would screech and scratch as he tuned it, finally getting a signal from a station that played songs from the 70s. That delighted him and he versed for a sing-along.

He was driving along and singing to the radio, when he reached the bridge at Mill Road.

Something caught his eye, and he pulled his truck to a sudden halt. His wrinkled face expressed worry watching a figure at the other end standing close to the edge of the bridge. He turned off the radio and put his head out of his window. "Who's there?" He yelled.

He saw some motions there and froze, watching the figure on the bridge. The figure was climbing the railings of the bridge, getting ready to jump off of it.

The driver quickly got out of his truck calling, "Stop! Don't even try ..."

But before he could reach the figure, he had already jumped. The old man looked down, searching for where he fell. When he saw the person lying motionlessly on the ground, he cringed. "What a shame!" he said to himself and took out his phone to call 911.

Monday and Tuesday came and went, and suddenly it was Wednesday. Noah's eyes subconsciously

scanned the classroom and met a pair of sad eyes between the group of students. But, his hopes were diminished when he didn't see any signs of Luke.

He knew it shouldn't bother him, but he was awfully worried for that blonde guy now. The way he had left him at the theatre, sad and broken; it poked anxiousness at his mind.

He began his lecture anyway, but his heart wasn't in it. He seemed lost. After the period was over and the bell rang, all the students went out giggling and gossiping of how funny the lecture was, with their history teacher talking nonsense, and making several mistakes while explaining certain things. They wondered what was up with him. Noah did overhear some talk, but ignored it. He had something else on his mind that was more important.

"Miss Brooke. Can I talk to you for a second?" Noah called Mercedes as she was about to leave.

"Yes, Mr. Mayer?"

"Uhm... I was wondering where Lu- uhm... Mr. Snyder is. Do you have any idea?" He hopefully asked.

But Mercedes didn't know. "I am sorry. I haven't heard from him since Friday night. Though, I plan to go and check on him today."

"Oh ok. The reason I asked was, your history assignments are due; I wanted to know if he would be able to submit it on time or not since he's been out for a few days."

"I'll let him know." Mercedes nodded.

After she was gone Noah was still restless, so he thought he would go and relieve some stress with a coffee. With that intention, he headed for the staff area, worrying about Luke the whole time.

He went up to get a coffee from the machine. At that moment, a frustrated Mrs. Gordon entered the room. She was the personal secretary for the principal, and she had to take care of most of his work. She would always bitch about how the oldie would just force his work on her, and leave her to take care of it, and then he would sit back in his office, playing around on Facebook.

But today she was stressed for some other reason. "God forbid! Seriously, what an awful era is this!" She talked to a fellow colleague, and Noah overheard her conversation. "Students of this generation are born brainless, I guess. Can you imagine a seventeen year old kid attempting suicide over a failed love?" She laughed sarcastically before taking a sip of her coffee."What do they know about love anyway? It's similar to what was in the newspapers on Sunday; the suicide case on the bridge on Mill Road on Saturday night." She shook her head in disbelief. "Who would have thought it would be one of our students!"

Noah's heart sank, overhearing her conversation. The only thought that crossed his mind right now was, 'Was that Luke? Shit! But why would he go over that fucking bridge? That's too far away from the movie theatre. So it can't be him ... can it be? No, it certainly can't...'

He tried to calm himself down, but the fear got the best of him, and before he knew it, his feet had automatically taken him to his car to head to the Snyder farm.

- TBC -


	8. Chapter 8

Noah was freaking out as he got closer to the farm. He hadn't expected this to happen. He prayed to God that his Luke was alright. He tried to calm his mind by assuring himself that nothing could happen to Luke, and that he must be alright. But the more he thought about it, the more anxious he became.

He honked the horn several times in annoyance. A black Impala was driving ahead of him, limiting his speed, as it drove at a snail's pace. He swore out loud, honking the unpleasant horn again. The driver finally took the hint, and moved over to let Noah pass. Noah drove off and took a swift turn, stopping in the frontier of the Snyder farm.

He quickly hopped out of the car and ran towards the big abode. His heart sped up when he reached the door and he knocked softly. Subconsciously he had begun tapping his feet, he became impatient and knocked again – louder this time.

The door finally opened and he was greeted by a little girl standing in the doorway, staring at him. "Um ... hi." Noah said, not knowing what else to say.

Natalie looked up at the tall stranger, and then suddenly smiled wide. "Hello. Did you come to play with me?"

"Ehm... no, sorry. Is Luke here?" he asked eagerly.

"So, you are here to play with Luke and not me?" She pouted.

"Natalie, who is it?" A voice came from inside.

"Grandma, it's someone asking for Luke." She said turning to her grandmother, who was approaching them.

Emma looked at the unfamiliar guest, but still gave a warm, loving smile to him. Natalie ran away, disappearing inside as Emma asked, "Yes?"

"Hi. I am Noah Mayer – Luke's history teacher." He told her.

"Oh, please come in." She opened the door wide to let him in. Noah entered the familiar living room, which he remembered from Sunday. "What brings you here, Mr. Mayer?"

"Please, call me Noah ma'am." He smiled at her and she nodded. Then with some slight hesitation mixed with fear, he said, "And uhm- Luke hasn't been to school for a couple of days this week. So I thought I would check on him personally. Is he alright?"

"Actually, he is not." Noah felt the colour drain from his face, hearing Emma utter those words.

"What happened to him?" He anxiously questioned her. Emma could see the over-protectiveness in Noah's eyes and wondered about it. But she shrugged it off, thinking Luke must be a good student in his class. "Can I see him?" Noah asked her in desperation.

Emma nodded and asked him to follow her as she took him upstairs. Noah just wanted to see if Luke was ok, and not too injured after ...

"He is sleeping right now." Emma interrupted his thoughts, as they reached Luke's room.

She opened Luke's door to reveal Luke sleeping peacefully in his bed. Noah wanted to go in and take Luke in his arms; to hold him tightly, to never let him go. But he controlled his emotions. He was just happy to see Luke wasn't hurt too badly. Instead, he was flawless; without any injuries, and no casts or anything. Noah breathed a sigh of relief.

That indicated Mrs. Gordon wasn't talking about Luke. But he wanted to know, "What happened to him?"

"He is not well. He has had a high temperature for the last two days. But it's been getting better since last night, thank God for that!" She exclaimed, sadly watching her grandson. Luke stirred a bit with their voices but didn't wake up.

Emma closed the door quietly without making any noise, and guided Noah back downstairs. "He should be fine by tomorrow, I think. And if he's feeling up to it, he will be at school tomorrow."

"No. Let him rest; he needs it, I guess." Noah said again in a protective way, making Emma suspicious, but she didn't call him on it.

"Please have a seat. I will bring you something." Emma said with a smile, turning to go inside the kitchen.

"Oh, please don't bother ma'am. I have to be back at school anyway. I'll let you get back to whatever you were doing…" He gave a short bow of his head and smiled at her graciousness. And before he left, he said to her, "Oh, and please don't let Luke know I was here. I mean, he would get stressed with school stuff, and that's the last thing he needs right now."

Emma felt weird about it, but nodded anyway, assuring Noah that she wouldn't mention him stopping by. Noah thanked her and headed out, leaving Emma with several unanswered questions.

Joe was driving Gust to his friend's place. He turned his head to look at him. The sad look on Gust's face killed him. He wished he could do something to make him feel better.

Gust sat in the passenger seat, holding a picture in his hand. It was his and Candes' snap from their first trip. He stared at it while in a trance, remembering all the happy times he had shared with her. While they were together, they were inseparable. Though he knew it wasn't romantic feelings he felt for her, the love was always there – the love of a best friend. She was the person who was closest to him, other than Luke.

"What are you thinking?" Joe asked out of the blue, breaking Gust's train of thought. Joe was worried and he couldn't stop from expressing it.

Gust sighed heavily. "Nothing." He shook his head.

"Please baby." Joe pleaded with his eyes. "Why don't you let me in? Don't I mean anything to you? Don't you trust me?"

Gust looked at Joe, who looked back at him. They stared into each other's eyes for a moment, before Joe turned his eyes back on the road. "Do I take a right over here?"

"Yeah..." Gust said, directing him to Candes' apartment. "And ... I was just reflecting... you know, over the past." He opened up. "Candes and I have spent good times together."

Gust caught the discomfort on Joe's face and quickly said, "Please don't get me wrong. I never loved her like she said she loved me. But that doesn't mean I didn't like her. She is a great girl, Joe."

He felt Joe's hand grasp his, tightly. "I understand that, alright?" he assured him.

Gust gave a nod looking down at his hands, and whispered, "I can't believe she did this." He gave a huff, running his hand through his hair, and looked out the window. He saw another car driving fast, passing them, and pulling up quickly into the parking lot of one of the apartments. They had arrived at the residence area by now, and Candes' place wasn't that far away when he suddenly said, "It's all because of me this is happening. I tend to fuck up things just when they are getting good."

"Don't you say that!" Joe said forcefully, but softened his tone as he continued, "You are not responsible for this situation, you get that? You chose to be yourself, and believe me; you did the best for the both of you." Gust was still looking out the window. He didn't say anything for a moment. "Gust?" Joe got worried by the silence. Gust said something in a low voice, which was washed away by the outside traffic noise.

"What?"

"I said stop the car." Gust said, looking at him with disinterest. "We have reached her place."

Joe nodded and drove up the driveway. "Let's go." Gust mumbled when the car stopped and he went to open the door.

"I'll stay here in the car while you talk to her." Joe said. Gust turned to him with a surprised look on his face. "That's the right thing to do. You need to talk to her alone."

Gust kept studying his face for some time, in disbelief. Joe would always say the right things, and take away a piece of Gust's heart. How can someone be so thoughtful?

A smile of gratefulness broke on Gust's face and he left the car.

He blew out a nervous breath as he reached the enormous dwelling. Candes was from a well-to-do family; her father worked as a co-partner of Worldwide – a multinational corporation.Her parents never approved of him when he used to date her. They would be rude around him whenever he visited Candes. He tapped the door softly and waited for it to open.

The butler didn't take much time to open the door, and he was ushered into the house.He asked him to sit while he went to get Candes. Gust nodded and was about to take a seat on the pillow-soft couch when Mr. McGraw, Candes' father came up to him and grabbed him by his collar. "See what you did to my daughter." He said with his teeth clenched tight. "You ruined her life. That's what you wanted from the very beginning, isn't it?"

"Honey, stop!" Candes' mother came rushing behind him and tried to pull him away. "He's not worth it." She looked at him with disgust and anger in her eyes. Gust felt he deserved this after all the sorrow he put their daughter through. He understood why they were behaving this way; because they loved their daughter and hated to see her unhappy.

Mr. McGraw didn't let go of his collar yet but spat out, "Didn't I always tell you he just wasn't right for our girl? But no one listened to me." He pushed Gust off as he let go of his collar. "You better leave before I lose my temper and commit a crime." His eyes were spitting anger.

But Gust didn't budge. He stayed where Candes' father pushed him, and politely replied, "I am not going until I talk to Candes."

"Such temerity ..." He stalked towards Gust, yelling in anger.

"Dad, stop, please!" Candes yelled, standing half-way down on the staircase. Both men looked in her direction and grimaced.

"Sweetie, he is just causing trouble for you, nothing else." Mr. McGraw turned to her pleadingly, so that she wouldn't fall for Gust's words again.

"Daddy please, let me handle this my way." She pleaded with him.

"But-"

"Trust me, please. I can handle this on my own." She said, making him leave in displeasure. Mrs. McGraw followed him inside too. Candes sighed and faced Gust with no emotions, "Let's go to my room."

She walked up the stairs unsteadily, with one of her legs tied in white bands. Surprisingly, she didn't have any casts on her hand, but there was a band-aid rolled over her hand just above the wrist, similar to the one tied around her head. A slight yellowish mark was noticed by Gust on the back as he walked behind her. He felt the pain in his heart. How did it all end up like this?

When they reached her room, she asked Gust to lock the door as she went and sat on the bed, resting herself. Gust offered to help, but she refused and managed it herself.

Gust stood beside the bed looking at her for a long time. "Why, Candes? Why did you have to do this?"

"It's none of your business anymore." She snapped and looked away from him. "Who told you about this anyway?"

"I was talking to Ashley at school this morn- ..."

"I told that bitch not to say anything." She grumbled to herself, feeling anger towards her friend.

"Candes, it's just me she told because I pushed the matter. I didn't see you for days and I was worried..."

A sardonic laugh from Candes interrupted him, "Really?"

"Don't be like that, Candy. We broke up, that doesn't mean I stopped caring about you." Gust was hurt, but he could see Candes' point of view.

"You used me, asshole." Candes swore. "You used me to hide your sexuality. How can you expect me to feel alright about that?"

"I don't expect you to just forget it and forgive me so soon. Not at all! Hell, I do feel that I should be punished hard for hurting you like this." He said, taking a breathing pause before saying, "but that doesn't mean you get the right to end your life! That's extreme." He shook his head, trying to get rid of the images of Candes being found injured under the bridge at Mill Road.He was thankful to God that she was alright. He wouldn't have been able to forgive himself otherwise. Gust felt sad thinking about it.

Candes frowned at him. "Dude, the world does not revolve around you. So stop thinking I would take my life over my lost love for you. You do so not deserve that." She rudely blurted out.

Gust gulped down the harsh words, though very painfully, and asked, "Then what was the reason you took such an extreme step?"

The room went quiet as Candes couldn't get herself to answer Gust's question. She went into deep thought, reflecting over the rough couple of days she had.

"Candy?"

"Gust ... this is hard for me." She sighed in defeat before she even said anything. Her mood had swung from being angry to extremely sad, so sad that she was about to cry.

"Just say it."

"Ok ..." she took a few deep breaths trying to think about how exactly to say it. Gust waited with baited breath as he watched her struggle with her thoughts. "I ... I am pregnant." She said it, and held her breath, waiting eagerly for his reaction.

Gust was taken aback. He thought he heard wrong. "What?"

"I am pregnant, Gust" She was irritated that she had to repeat it, as if one time killing her soul was not enough.

Gust looked at her in disbelief. "This is not the time to kid with me, Candes. It's pretty damn serious."

Candes looked at him with a funny expression on her face. "Do you think I would kid about something as serious as that?" Her eyes filled with tears and Gust knew she was telling the truth.

Now the panic begun... "Shit!" He couldn't breathe. "No! Shit!" He began huffing for air. He ran his hand over face, which had now turned pale. "Who's the father?"

The blonde gasped. "What do you think of me? That I'm a slut; that I slept around with other men while I was dating you?" Tears were running down her face as she eyed him incredulously.

"I'm sorry." Gust apologized. "I just can't think straight right now. But how ...?"

"How can you not remember our first time?"

"I know and the condom broke, but you did promise you took the birth control pills. Did you not ...?" Gust's eyes went big in realization of what might have happened. He felt like he was falling down a deep cliff.

"I'm sorry." She sobbed. "It slipped my mind, and then I was too drunk when we had sex ..." she cried hard covering her face.

Yes, Candes had been too drunk to think soberly. They were at a party a few weeks ago. At the same party Luke was at as well. Gus saw him having fun, dancing close to some random guy. Nothing else had happened, but the images of Luke getting closer to someone else were troubling him even while he drove home from the party. Candes was full as a tick when she had declared she wanted him so bad. Gust wanted to forget about Luke and that guy, so he took her up on the offer. He drove the car over to a quiet part of town, and they did it in the back seat. It was very rough, and highly unexpected. When he realized that the condom he used had actually broken, he freaked out. Candes too was very afraid of the consequences, but she assured him that she would make sure she would take birth control pills and everything would be alright.

But she didn't and now she was pregnant. Gust wished he could go back in time and set things right. However, things were done and he realized he couldn't run away from the fact that he was the father of Candes' child.

Candes had been rambling about things, and he caught just the tail end of it. "I thought ending it all was the best thing to do."

"By ending your life, Candes? You really thought that was right?"

"What other option did I have?" Candes said, "You might say abortion, but I was too afraid that mom and dad would find out about it."

"I certainly wasn't suggesting abortion." Gust quietly said, taking her hand.

She looked at him with surprise on her face. "You weren't?"

"No." He smiled. "The birth of a child is an amazingly beautiful thing that happens in this world. I wouldn't want to shrug off this blessing at all."

Candes felt her heart beat at those words. This was the reason she loved Gust so much; he was always so sensitive, which made him attractive to her. But he was gay, and she understood she had no chance with him. She sighed. "Oh well, this big step really ruined my life. I wasn't planning on ending up in the water, but that damn old man saw me and I didn't see where I jumped. Otherwise the rocky land down there surely would have killed me." Candes wiped her tears.

The very thought of Candes dying made Gust shiver. "Don't say that. You have a long life ahead of you to live."

"I guess that's why I came out of that water alive." She chuckled. "And this monster must be some fighter, putting up through all of this." She palmed her belly, feeling the presence of life inside it. "The doctor said it's a miracle that it survived even after I was hurt so badly."

Gust smiled sadly. "I am glad."

Candes turned to him with an undefined fear, "What are we going to do Gust? We're so young. Can we be good parents? What will happen when everyone at school finds out?"

His mind was already was haunting him with similar questions, but he played it cool for Candes, "Hey, I know it's not going to be easy, but we can pull through it. I will be there with you." He said palming her shoulders. "I will look after all your needs, I promise. This baby is not only yours, but my responsibility too. And as for school, it's not necessary we tell everyone. And if ever it comes out, we will face it together, ok?"

Candes couldn't hold it in anymore, and she threw her arms around his neck, crying endlessly on his shoulders. She never thought he would be ready to stand with her through it. She was more than grateful that he was being so understanding and considerate.

Gust held the crying girl for some time and tried to comfort her. He knew it was going to be hard for both of them from now on, and truthfully, he was scared shitless.

After a minute or two, Gust's phone vibrated in his pocket. Candes felt it and backed off wiping her eyes dry. Gust looked at the caller ID; it was Joe. He stared at his name for a while, thinking how he was going to explain this all to him. Would he understand?

He had gotten really close to him Joe since Saturday night. Every second he spent with the guy was heavenly. He made Gust feel special, and that's what he had craved.

But now everything was about to get ruined with Candes' pregnancy. How would he deal with all of this? He didn't know ...

The phone vibrated for some time and then stopped.

- TBC -


	9. Chapter 9

Joe was getting more anxious with every second that passed. He was eager to know what was happening inside. He got so desperate at one point, that he regretted his decision of letting Gust handle this all by himself. But as he was about to step out of the car, he saw movement at the doorway, and soon he saw Gust walking towards the car. Joe heaved a sigh of relief.

Gust saw Joe waving at him from inside the car and felt a lump form in his throat. His steps slowed and he feared how to tell him what had happened. Would he take it hard? After all, Joe had told Gust he loved him, and Gust didn't want to hurt the loving guy, ever again.

He got into the car and put on the seatbelt, avoiding eye contact.

"So, how did it go?" Joe asked cautiously. "Is Candes doing well?"

"Yeah, she's fine." He lied looking out the window, preoccupied with his own thoughts.

Joe didn't expect that kind of answer. He was sure there was more to it than that. But Gust looked lost in his thoughts, so he didn't question him any further. Instead, he said, "That's great!"

Gust didn't say anything further, so Joe started the car and put it in gear, heading for his place. They would eat and drink, watch TV together or play games, but most of the time they'd just talk. Joe just loved to hear Gust talk, and this way they were also getting closer to one another, learning more about each other with each passing day.

"Where are we going?" Gust asked.

"My place." Joe stated, matter of fact, "Why?" He looked at Gust with worry. It was kind of weird that Gus hadn't looked at him since he had come out of Candes' apartment.

"No." Gust shook his head and sighed, "I need to go home. I have to work on an English assignment that's due next week." It was only half a lie, but that didn't make him feel any less guilty. Rather, it was killing him to lie to Joe. Joe didn't deserve that.

"Gust ..." Joe started to say, but then he changed his mind. Maybe it wasn't the right time. "Okay, as you wish." He whispered and concentrated on the road. He thought it would be better to give Gust some space for the time being. But he also hoped Gust would find the courage to talk to him soon.

Joe was deep in thought, when suddenly he was pulled out of his trance by the sound of heartbreaking sobs and cries. He freaked out looking at Gust's shoulders trembling as he cried uncontrollably, holding his face in his hands. Joe quickly pulled the car to the side of the road and cut the engine.

"Hey, hey man! What's wrong?" He reached out with his hand, softly touching Gust's thigh.

As soon as he touched him, Gust swiftly twisted in his seat and pulled Joe near him. Joe couldn't understand what was going on and got worried. He held Gust as the poor boy cried in his arms, feeling like shit.

After crying for a while, when only a few sniffs and huffs could be heard in the car, he realized how stupid he must have looked crying like a baby in front of Joe. He quickly separated himself from the almost embrace, and squirmed shyly in his seat.

Joe straightened back in his seat as well and said, "Gust, it is okay to let out your pain. I am not going to make fun of you or tell anyone about this." He stated with encouragement.

"I know," Gust sniffed and looked outside, "Let's go; it's getting late." he said, and dismissed the topic.

Joe was disappointed. He would have preferred Gust telling him what was so wrong that it got him to a crying stage, rather than play a 'don't ask, don't tell' game. Without another word, he put the car in drive again. The rest of the way to Gust's place, neither of them spoke. But when it was time for Gust to get out of the car, Joe couldn't stop himself from asking, "Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?"

This time Gust looked at him, and he really looked at him ... noticing the concern and innocence in Joe's grey eyes. He was never aware of the fact that Joe had the most amazing eyes he had ever seen. He looked deep into them, and found that love for him surfacing. Gust's eyes travelled down to his lips. He had gotten used to them by now. Every day since they started spending time together, there would come an intense moment when they couldn't stop themselves and before they knew it, their lips would be playing with each other.

Gust suddenly missed the feel of it; the way Joe's lips would cover his and then fill his mouth in no time, thrusting his tongue inside. He moaned insensibly, and leaned into the desire to take possession of them. Joe moaned into the kiss and soon he was lost in his own la-la land. This time Gust had initiated a kiss all by himself, and taken the lead of his feelings. It just put his heart on fire as they began frenching.

Gust backed off, still holding Joe's face between both of his hands, and he felt dizzy. "I will see you tomorrow." He said taking his backpack from the backseat, and left the car before Joe could say anything else.

Noah couldn't stop smiling when he saw Luke enter class just as the bell rang. He didn't look any different, a bit weak maybe, but okay – as beautiful as ever. He observed Luke as he walked in and went directly over to take his seat. Luke didn't look at him at all; not even a quick glance. He just entered with his head down, and walked briskly to his seat.

Noah got a weird feeling. He suddenly missed the smile; the one that was damn cute, getting-you-weak-in-the knees kind, with a hint of flirtatiousness in it. It would always brighten his day, just by the cheeriness of the guy.

But thanks to him, the guy was lost somewhere. He felt guilty about what he had done to Luke.

The students had settled down, and soon Noah began teaching. His mind was in place this time, and he gave such a fascinating explanation about the 'Caeser and Christ' part of the syllabus, that not one student moved their heads, and kept listening to him keenly.

Noah's eyes would, however, return to Luke, who sat in the seat near the window. Luke kept looking outside. Luke wasn't paying attention - he noticed that - but didn't say anything. Luke seemed to be uninterested in what he was saying, like he could give a damn about whether Noah was there or not. It hurt and it also worried him at the same time. With the rising tension between them, he was worried that Luke would start ignoring what was important to him – his studies. And Noah felt like he couldn't just stand there and watch his grades go down. It surprised him how he had started to care about Luke in a different way, but he shook it off as soon as the thought had begun. He didn't want to think of Luke as more than a student.

After he was done with almost with half of the lesson, explaining each of the incidents to his students clearly, he decided to test them on how much they understood. So he began discussing the lesson with randomly selected students. He once again looked at Luke, and thought he could include him in the discussion as well.

"Exactly!" he exclaimed, appreciating the way one of his student answered his question. "Many of these changes lasted for centuries after the Renaissance." He concluded that part, and turned to Luke, "Mr. Snyder!"

Luke closed his eyes, hearing his name; the sound that always made his heart beat erratically, like now. But he wanted this feeling to go away. He couldn't handle anymore heartbreak. The one on Saturday night was enough.

Noah watched Luke turn his head slowly towards him. And there he saw that sparkle in his eyes again as he looked straight at him ... and within moments, it was gone.

"Mr. Snyder, what types of scholars worked together in Al Andalus, Jerusalem and Byzantium?" he questioned. Luke sat up straight, feeling uneasy under everyone's stares, and he lowered his head to hide his reddening face.

A guy named Wilbur quickly raised his hand excitedly. He was so eager to answer, that his mouth seemed like he was about to blurt it out, even if Noah allowed it or not. But Noah wanted Luke to try and answer it, so he looked questioningly over at the blond head.

"Mr. Snyder?" he called for his attention, to let him know that he was still waiting for an answer.

However, since Noah was ignoring him, Wilbur tried to get his attention by raising his hand higher in the air. Mercedes, who sat behind him, put a hand on her mouth to stop herself from bursting out in laughter. The boy looked so edgy like something was pricking his ass!

"Hmm... Tell me whatever I said about Crusades..." Noah asked another question, making Luke more embarrassed. He hadn't heard a single word during the class, and now he didn't know how to answer the question.

When no answer came, Noah asked another question getting irritated, "The scholars from Byzantium moved out of there, did it affect the early Renaissance in any way?"

Again, no answer.

"I don't know Luke; it's not going to work this way, alright?" He got angry, "Did you even hear a single word I said?" Luke frowned, but Noah couldn't see it since his head was cast downwards. "Well, I highly doubt that ..." His gaze travelled to a very restless Wilbur, who looked like he was going to die of suffocation if he didn't answer. "Yes Wilbur, would you like to answer those questions?" He asked, facing the skinny nerd-looking guy.

As soon as Mr. Mayer had called out his name, he set himself ready to take off, and even before Noah could complete his sentence, he started, "The scholars that worked together belonged to ethnic group of Muslims. The Crusades were a series of religiously sanctioned military campaigns. The migration of Byzantine scholars and other émigrés from southern Italy and Byzantium during the decline of the Byzantine Empire, which was between around 1203 and 1453, and mainly after the fall of Constantinople in 1453 until the 16th century, is considered by some scholars, as the key to the revival of Greek and Roman studies and subsequently in the development of the Renaissance humanism. These emigrants were grammarians, humanists, poets, writers, printers, lecturers, musicians, astronomers, architects, academics, artists, scribes, philosophers..."

"That's enough... thank you!" Noah stopped him, looking at him weirdly, "Breathe Will." He chuckled and the others laughed, "But WOW! You covered it all, even what I didn't say. But, you see, Luke?" He turned to the blonde, "That's the concentration I expect from you." He said, but realized what he said, and turned to all, finishing, "... uhm all."

Luke's nose flared and his eyes burnt watching that big smile over that nerd's face. He even shot an angry glare towards Noah, but then looked away, thinking it was an inappropriate thing to do.

"That gets you an hour detention, Mr. Snyder." Noah retorted because of the glare, and Luke squirmed. "After school, you will stay here and finish reading that whole part we discussed in class today. Am I clear?" He said sternly.

Luke nodded, and Noah faced everyone. He asked each one of them to leave their assignments on his desk before they headed out, and informed them about the test that was going to be taken next week.

Mercedes went up to Luke. "Hey, you okay?"

"I am fine" Luke said forcefully and went past her, walking ahead, as they both went to hand in their assignments. Gust came face to face with Luke and they stared at each other. Mercedes could feel the tension between them. There was something each one wanted to say to the other, but without another word, they walked away.

He saw a girl go up to Noah's desk and say "Mr. Mayer, is it okay if I won't be able to submit the assignment today?"

Noah looked at her. "Oh, why? Isn't your assignment ready yet?"

"Actually, Mr. Mayer", she said his name so flirtatiously that Luke fumed in anger and glared, all the while she continued, "I didn't find time ..."

Noah interrupted her, "One day! You have just one day to finish the assignment, Miss Blake. I want it by tomorrow or you can forget about the credits for this term." He warned and dismissed her.

She pouted and walked away. Luke still couldn't get over his anger, so he just put his assignment on Noah's desk and left. Noah considered saying sorry to Luke, which he had been thinking of since the minute he had left him outside the movie theatre in a broken state. But he didn't get the chance to talk to Luke. So he looked forward to Luke's detention hour, so he could talk to him.

Gust was by his locker when Joe came up from behind and caught him by his waist. Gust almost jumped at the touch but softened, looking at Joe's handsome face.

"Hey handsome" Joe said.

"Hey." Gust put the remaining books into his locker and closed it, before he turned into the embrace, facing Joe with an addictive smile, "What's up? How was your day?" He could feel the eyes on him. It was still fresh gossip around the lobby that the basketball star Gust Rivera was gay and dating a senior. It just felt weird to be the talk of the school.

Joe made a face. "Fucking Awful! That Dick ... I mean Mr. Dick – I almost got detained in his class."

Gust laughed, "What did you do? Jacked him off in front of the whole class?"

"Ew... that sicko? Neva!" He giggled, and let Gust out of his arms, only to hold his hand into his. "I am glad it's fucking Friday and the day is over. That means a weekend full of fun, just you and me." He grinned.

But Gust lost his smile. "Ehm ... Joe, I am not going anywhere this weekend." He said and looked away from him, not able to meet his eyes.

"Why?"

"Because ... we have a history test next Thursday and I am thinking I will stay in and prepare for it." He lied.

"But the test is not until Thursday, and that leaves you so much time without wasting your weekend fun with your head buried in books!" He scowled at the mention of books. "Who the hell studies on a weekend?"

"I do." He snapped at him. "And I don't see a problem with that."

Gust pushed Joe away and stormed off, leaving Joe in utter confusion. He didn't even turn back when he called after him. But as he came out to the parking lot he stood by his car and rested his head on the car door, becoming sadder. How could he find the courage to tell Joe about everything that was going on?

- TBC -


End file.
